Steal The Heart
by ABFG
Summary: That's what I feel with you. Aang's proposing words ran through my brain while I felt a pang of guilt in my heart. There will be broken hearts along the way, but the question is: Who's heart will it be? Kataang, Taang, Zutara, Sukka, SokkaxOC
1. Chapter 1:Snowballs Everywhere

Disclaimer: I don't own avatar.

**A/N: I'm fixing up this chapter. Nothing new happening here; just not satisfied with it.**

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

It was a chilly morning in the Southern Water Tribe, as usual. The snow usually grants its inhabitants a kind of unusual confidence. Sokka, with his newfound 'confidence', was now participating in the Water Tribe's annual Moon Festival Snowball Fight.

"Aang! You're dead meat!" He threw another deadly snowball at the _Great Avatar_.

Unfortunately, Aang just dodged it and ran behind his and Toph's makeshift fort while the snow ball hit some poor kid behind them.

"I wish Katara was here!" Suki whined behind Sokka's back. With the sound of snowballs whizzing in the air, he could barely make out what she said.

"Too bad she's busy with Zuko! Sucks for her! She's missing everything!" Sokka chuckled as he threw another snowball at Aang.

Aang had to go to _another_ meeting a week ago, but Katara took his place. She thought he was working to hard and as his fiancée, she should be able to take his place for a while.

SMACK! The feeling of cold snow hit his tan face.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR TALKING, MEATHEAD!" Toph screamed from their side and high-fived her avatar friend. She hit too hard and the _oh so great _Avatar fell into the snow face flat.

"Oh, you're gonna get it!" Sokka hissed and ran over to the younger girl. The three of them were engaged in such a hard fight that they were soaking wet on the way back to the house. Suki had left the fight midway through the fight claiming she didn't want to catch a cold.

"Guys," Sokka placed a hand on both of his friend's shoulders, "I'm so glad you guys could make it here!" And hugged them till Toph couldn't breathe.

"Love ya, man." Aang and Sokka embraced each other brotherly while Toph just laughed on the side.

"You guys are girlier than Katara!" She smirked. Aang and Sokka devilishly looked at each other and nodded. An evil smirk came over the monk's face and they both tackled Toph, "We love you too Toph!" and enveloped her in the tightest hug ever. After thirty seconds, the poor girl was finally let go.

"I can't breathe now!" And she punched Aang's arm. He didn't even wince. Then again, the two and Katara had been travelling together for a while now so he must be used to it.

"I know you love us too, Toph. You don't need to say it." Aang smirked and picked her up and swung her onto his back with a big green blur. He'd become much taller and stronger through the years.

"Put me down, Twinkle!" And she thrashed her arms onto his back, but in vain.

With much struggling, the three finally got to the palace. Sokka, being the chief's son, lived in luxury. He didn't let the royalty get to his head, though. He was still a 'simple guy with simple needs'. The only thing he absolutely yearned for was his little sister. Of course, the big reunion in the Fire Nation was only few days away and he would see Katara there, but he still missed her to death. Meanwhile, he's been passing his time by worrying over his upcoming proposal. Aang was the only one who knew about it and had been giving him pep talks and all of that stuff.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Sokka's POV)

"Oh Kyoshi! You guys must be so cold! Come on in!" Suki pushed the three of us inside and sent us to the bathe. Toph, of course, went the ladies' bathrooms while Aang and I went to the guy's one.

"So, when is it going to be?" Aang asked me about my proposal.

"I want to do it before going to Zuko's for the reunion. So it'll be announced there… if she says yes." My heart sank at the thought that she would say no.

"Why would she say no? What's wrong?" His gray eyes softened with worry.

"Suki and I have been having some problems lately." I could hear him sigh in understanding, "She isn't as close to me as she used to be. She always declines any date I ask her on. She's never there anymore. I'm scared she's hiding something."

"Well, maybe you should talk with her?" Aang suggested.

"I will. So how bout you and Katara!" I was desperate to change the topic and this was the only big thing left.

"Oh, I miss her." He stared into the warm water.

"Miss having her in bed?" I smirked. He immediately shot up and gave me that look that screamed: If you want to talk about this, I can make it become _bad_ for you.

"Yup, Sokka. She was awesome!" _GAG! _ I don't want to know about my sister!

"Shut up, you idiot. I don't want to go there." I smacked his arm and we just laughed.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Toph's POV)

"So, Suki. How's life?" I asked my friend who was chilling beside me. WOW! The Southern Water Tribe has the _best _bath tubs. I've got to tell Aang to get one just like this in the Air Temple. I bet Katara would like that too.

"Not good. I think Sokka's going to propose." She whimpered. I spit out the drink I was sipping on and screamed, "WHAT? How is that bad? You guys have been together for years! Shouldn't you be happy?"

"Can you keep a secret?" Suki moved closer to me and I could tell things were becoming more serious.

"Trust me. I've learned to keep many secrets and I haven't let out one." I sighed.

"Doesn't that suck?"

"I've learned to cope." I shrugged, "Go on."

"I want to break up with Sokka." I spit out even more of my drink and Suki gave a disgusted face to the puddle of it on the side of the big tub.

"Why would you want to do that?" I asked.

"I can't stand to lie to him every day. I don't love him. I love someone else."

"Who is it?" I cautiously ask her.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"SO YOU HAVE THE POWER?" Aang was giving me one of those pep talks again.

"Yup!" I screamed back as I grabbed my towel and wiped myself down.

"You're going to ask her tomorrow?" He was really good at these things!

"YEAH!" My fist pumped into the air.

"And she's going to say yes and you two are going to be together just like how you wanted! I'm proud of you, man."

We wore our warm clothes and bid good night. _You can do this, Sokka. You love her, and she'll hopefully want to do this too and we can forget about the fact that she's further away now. _

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Hay, Twinkle." I waved to the Avatar as he passed my room.

"What's up Toph? You seem shocked." He walked in and gave that classic concerned father routine.

"I'm fine. So what were you guys doing while talking a bath? I heard screaming and that isn't good."

He laughed, "Oh, I was just giving a pep talk to Sokka."

"He seems to need those a lot nowadays." I pointed out and he laughed in agreement.

"Yeah he does. But this one was different. He's going to propose to Suki tomorrow!" I could feel Aang's excitement.

_Oh no._

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"I don't think we should do this." I whispered into his ear.

"Why? You love me, right?" His husky voice sent shivers down my back.

"Aang." The vision of my fiancée broke into my brain.

"He'll learn that in life, you don't get everything you want." He threw his red robes off and showed off his toned chest.

"But we're engaged!" I screamed in defense and pushed him off.

"We'll fix that later, but I'm not scared of the monk. Are you?" I denied it when deep down, I actually felt guilty.

"I've left Mai for you. Now it's your turn." His amber eyes stared into mine as I fell, defeated.

_Love is supposed to be pure. That's what I feel with you._Aang's proposing words ran through my brain while I felt a pang of guilt in my heart.


	2. Chapter 2:You're Not Sorry

Disclaimer: I don't own avatar.

**A/N: I'm going to be fixing quite a few of these chapters. Sorry. **

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Sokka POV)

Why am I wet? Mornings are supposed to be fresh and new. It's supposed to be the cliché sun in your face, birds chirping kind of morning, but I felt dead. Why am I even awake?

"Sokka! Wake up!" A soft voice shook at my shoulders.

"No." And I turned away from the offending light and pulled the fur blankets closer to my body.

"Today is a special day!" He urged again. I looked up.

"Hey," Aang greeted. He looked like he woke up _long_ time ago. "You need to make this day special remember?"

"Too early." I mumbled incoherently.

And then some talking went on that I wasn't paying attention until my boomerang came up. Aang had it over a flame coming from his hand.

"BOOMERANG!" And I jumped up and jumped on top of Aang. He started laughing and handed it over while I kissed and hugged my favorite, weapon?

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Aang POV)

"So you know what you're going to do?" I asked Sokka.

"Yup! Have the entire day planned out and I'll propose at night before the Moon Festival fireworks start." He sounded positive! _I'm really good at these pep talks!_

"Good. Toph and I are going to go shopping while you-," I was interrupted by the drama queen next to me.

"I am _not_ going shopping!" She managed to say with a full mouth of meat.

"Oh, yes you are! We need to get some food for the trip and-," Interrupted again/…

"How about we spar? This palace has a _bunch_ of grounds indoors." She proposed.

"Umm." I didn't really want to spar, but-," _Really Toph?_

"WIMP!" She screamed. _THAT'S IT!_

"SPAR IT IS!" I screamed. "You'll regret this." I muttered under my breath.

"Don't ruin the place while I'm gone." Sokka reminded us. He must've remembered the last spar I had with Toph at the Fire Palace. It was a MESS. Rocks in places where they shouldn't even be expected to be and parts of the palace were on fire. Good times…

"It's nearing lunch. I've got to go! Don't kill each other!" Sokka shouted while he wore his coat. I could hear him mutter, "I'm starting to sound a LOT like Katara." And he closed the door.

Katara…

I miss her. I wonder if she's okay. I'm not there to protect her so anything could've happened. Maybe she got kidnapped! Maybe the rebellions took her as bait for me! But Katara is a strong girl. But still…

_Wow…talk about desperate…Chill Twinkles. We'll meet her when we go to Princess's castle._

Toph! How'd you get into my head? [The real me turned to look at Toph and she was happily eating her meat.]

_That's my business. Anyway, stop worrying about Katara._

Okay. But why do you care?

_It's getting annoying. Now let's go spar and no other bending allowed. Just earth._

Yay. Another kick-butt fight that'll end with Toph winning and me injured in places that shouldn't be injured at all.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Toph POV)

I've always loved fighting with Aang, I mean TWINKLE TOES. Hehe, sorry about that. Anyway, I love that I'm the one that taught him everything. You get this sense of accomplishment, but of course, I would NEVER tell anyone that. I've got my own secrets and many other's secrets. It's not a great living, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

Whenever a fight first starts, Aang never does the first move so I end up first. I brought a good sized boulder and chucked it straight at him, but he bended up two slabs of earth to protect him. I sent another tremor to set him off balance and kept throwing spikes of earth. I could feel him dodging them and he was bringing up his own boulder, but he was too late. I bended myself up and now I had an elevation advantage. After sending a few boulders to distract the airbender, I forcefully dropped the pillar and it sent him flying all the way to the other wall. Let's skip to the part that he's stuck in a bunch of earth spikes and he surrenders.

"We made a deal and I won, now follow through." I smirked.

"But Toph," He whined, "It's sick!"

"Uh uh uh! You promised! Now come on!" I said as I put my feet out on the chair next to me.

"Me and my promises!" He screamed to the sky and he bent down to my feet.

"Remember that I have NEVER washed those feet since me and Katara went to that Day Spa." I pointed out.

"That was back before the Sozin's Comet!" And he tensed up.

"Yup, now go on." And I pointed to the holy feet. Of course, all my vision had gone right now (feet off the ground, remember?), but I knew that Aang was there and that nothing would happen to me.

Hesitantly, he kissed it ten times. And, Roku, it felt like little fireworks on my feet.

I even blushed a little bit. _DON'T TELL ANYONE I THOUGHT THAT!_ Many of the servants were staring at him like he was crazy, but that's what he gets for ever doubting my feet's power! Right when he was on the last kiss, Sokka walked in.

I started laughing as he got up and wiped his mouth. He even bended some of the nearby pond water and gargled it.

"Hey, Snoozles." This must've been awkward for him. Apparently, Aang didn't see him till now.

"Sokka, what's wrong?" Aang called out to him. I put my feet down and regained the vision. Sokka's heartbeat was dangerously slow. It only became that slow if you were dead, dying or had suicidal thoughts.

Aang took Sokka's coat off and helped him to his room. I could hear screams and talking. _That's not good._

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Aang POV)

"What do you mean she rejected you?"

"Before I could even bring the necklace out, she told me that she wanted to break up." He was whimpering and could barely even talk. I could tell he didn't want to talk about it.

"I'll leave you to yourself, but it's okay. Everything happens for a reason." And I closed the door to his room.

"Suki dumped him." Toph was standing right in front of me and she wasn't asking a question.

"How did-,"

"She told me." She said matter of fact, "Yesterday."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I screamed at the defense of my best guy friend.

"It's their business. Not mine, okay!" She shouted back.

"Well now, Sokka proposed and she rejected him! He's hurt!" I screamed.

"And he's not going to be the only one." She muttered to herself, but I pretended that I didn't hear that.

"Well, I didn't know he would propose!" She defended. _Yeah you did. _

"Okay, no need for shouting," I controlled myself and stared at Toph, "Why would she-"

"I can't. It's for Sokka to tell you. Not me." And the earth beauty walked away. _Did I just call Toph a beauty? But then again, she IS pretty. You're engaged! You're fiancée is with Zuko for a week, and you're already getting side tracked!_

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Toph POV)

It's been a week since we first arrived to this god-forsaken pit of snow, and now it was finally time to leave to the Fire Nation.

Twinkle Toes was on Appa's head, waving goodbye to everyone while I was just glad to get out of the Agni-forsaken snowball. Snoozles was still talking with his dad. I had already said by good byes.

_Flashback_

"Hey, Toph?" I jumped from Suki's voice. Spirits, these people are getting better at this! All this snow is making everyone harder to see and these boots aren't really helping.

"Suki, you almost killed me!" I whined as I clutched my chest. She just laughed.

"How's Sokka?" She turned serious and seemed guilty of doing this to the poor guy. HEY! I'm getting better at understanding people! Aang taught me everything.

"You're not sorry?" She didn't reply. "But, if this is what you've wanted, you got it. So, you coming to the reunion?" I asked her.

"No, I've got to go back to Kyoshi." And she hugged me. She's one of the only people that I let hug me. The only others are Aang, Katara, and Appa. I just like punching Sokka and Zuko.

"I've got to go." I punched her on the shoulder and jumped onto Appa.

"Bye." She waved.

_End Flashback_

"Bye everyone! Thanks for everything! Bye Chief Hakoda!" Aang screamed to his to-be father-in-law. _Father-in-law. Already?_

"Good bye, Aang." He replied and with a _yip, yip_, we were off into the air again.

"Just like old times, right?" Sokka was leaning on the saddle and ripping some seal jerky with his teeth, but before he could put some more in his mouth, I snatched it.

"Sharing is caring, Snoozles!" I muffled through a full mouth as Sokka just stared into his empty hands.

"So, what's up?" Aang asked as he walked up from Appa's head.

"Aren't you supposed to be steering Appa?"

"Not really. He knows the way to Zuko's." And the rest of the way was made with small talk while I was in my own world.

_What are you going to do with Katara?_

What do you mean?

_You know her secret. Are you going to tell Aang?_

This is their problem? Now, get OUT of my brain.

_I AM you, so I can't exactly get out. Even if it is their problem, you're their best friend. You don't want to see Aang get hurt, do you?_

Of course not. Twinkle Toes can get hurt pretty easily and when he does, it's not a pretty thing. He goes all Avatar State and it becomes creepy.

_Well, figure it out. Remember what Katara told you? She's planning on telling him the secret. Everything's going to go downhill! You need to ease Aang up._

Ugh, that seems like a _lot_ of work, but fine. I'll find a way.

"Toph?"

"WHAT?" I jumped up at the sudden intrusion.

"Calm down. It's just me." Aang comforted.

"Sorry, Twinkle Toes. What's up?" I brushed my bangs off my face.

"There's this girl I found while I was at the Fire Nation during one of those meetings a while back…"


	3. Chapter 3:Arianna

Disclaimer: I will NEVER own Avatar.

**Ages**:

Aang, Toph: 16

Katara, Suki: 17

Sokka, Arianna: 18

Zuko: 19

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Aang POV)

"There's this girl I found while I was at the Fire Nation during one of those meetings a while back. Her name's Arianna. She said she knew you and-,"

"You mean, THE Arianna? Was she a firebender?" She was getting _pretty_excited.

"Um, yeah." I backed away slowly.

"Go on!" She shouted and started jumping up and down. She was acting like her old 12 year old self again. Good times… Too bad we're 16 now… Getting married, going to live by ourselves.

"Well, she's going to be there at Zuko's. Turns out that she's his cousin on his mom's side. She found out about the reunion and that you're going to be there. Zuko sent me a letter that she'd be coming and I was supposed to tell you."

"Oh my spirits! YES!" In the spur of the moment she grabbed my collar and kissed my cheek. My eyes were wide open and she finally noticed what she was doing.

"Oh, sorry." She blushed while looking down. She's so cute when she does that.

"It's okay. Anyway, how do you know her?" I asked curiously.

"She was my best friend before you guys came! She lived in Gaoling too! Remember when I told you that I hid in caves to practice earthbending?" I nodded.

"Well, she was there also. I was about six and she was eight. I was practicing my bending when I felt some other girl. I REMEMBER NOW! I threw a boulder at her but she dodged it with firebending. Her family was poor and Fire Nation and they were trying to fit in. We weren't friends at first."

"I'm not surprised!" I chuckled but stopped when I saw her give me a death glare, but eased up when she started laughing too.

"She had attitude and I commended her for it," Toph said matter-of-fact, but her face tensed again, "We were best friends for two years after that. But the Earth Kingdom officials found out about their family and took her to the prisons. I never got to say bye and I've never seen her again." A tear fell down Toph's cheek, but she hid it with her bangs and quickly rubbed it off.

I put my hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. She's fine now."

"Yeah. Can't wait to see her again. Well, not really 'see' her but, yeah." She smiled again and a sense of relief passed through her features.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Sokka's POV)

_All this time I was wasting my time hoping you would come around. You have your own secrets and I'm sick of being the last to know. And all I want now is to get you out of my mind. And the worst thing is that I don't even think you feel sorry. Not even a little bit._

I stared at the green ribbon in my hand and threw it into the air. Aang and Toph were too deep in a conversation to even notice that I was just staring at it fall down into the water below.

I can't describe it. It feels like the world underneath me is crumbling and I'm hanging on with one pinky finger. The "manly" side of me is telling me to suck it up and be a man while my heart is dying inside.

_Yue died. Suki killed me. Lesson learned, Sokka?_

_Never love. It isn't worth the pain_

*O*O*O*O*O*O*_._

(Toph's POV)

"Sokka?" I shook him gently from his sleep. He seemed in pain and I'm not _that_ mean that I would slap him awake like I usually do. "Sokka! Wake up! We need to set up camp."

The groggy 19 year old slapped himself awake and literally fell off Appa. Aang ran to help him but Sokka just walked away. I could feel his heartbeat. It was dangerously low and I don't care if he needs his space! He needs a friend who'll listen to him!

I followed after him to a cliff. He was sitting on the side of it with his legs hanging and I sat beside him.

"You okay?" I ask cautiously. When no answer came back I said, "Sokka. You have to let this out. I'm no expert, but I know that something bad will happen if you keep it to yourself. Please, just let it out."

He turned and looked at me. I could tell that he was crying because I could hear some sniffles. He was trying his hardest to make sure that the tears wouldn't fall.

"It feels like she's betrayed me. Like everything that I've always enjoyed in life is becoming darker and I just want to stop it altogether." His head hung down.

"It may seem horrible right now, but we're here for you! Me, Aang, and Katara! We're your family, remember?" He still never answered so I just went on.

"Sometimes, people think that holding on makes them strong. It's not. Right now, it's letting go."

"She's right, Sokka." Aang had sneaked up on us. (My feet were dangling too so I couldn't 'see' anymore.) He sat on the other side of Sokka.

"See," I went on, "We're all here for you!" Aang and I gave him a huge hug and he smiled and squeezed back.

He walked away and after a few minutes Aang and I left as well.

"Wait, what's that?" He pointed to something in the ground. It was carved into the dirt.

_**YOU SAID YOU WOULD KILL ANYONE WHO HURT ME. WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?**_

"Sokka wrote it." Aang concluded after reading the message out loud.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Hey Katara!" The Fire Nation teenager walked to her new friend. She was outside in the palace gardens.

"Hey Arianna." She sounded sad.

"What's wrong?" Her brown eyes looked into her friend's eyes with concern.

"Nothing much." The waterbender was determined to keep her secret. "Forget about that." Desperately trying to change the subject, "Tell me about yourself."

"Well, I've lived a pretty exciting life you could say!" The firebender's smile lit up and went on with her happy memories back with Toph while Katara became even more depressed.

_She has the same smile as Aang._

Read and Review XD


	4. Chapter 4: What True Love Really Needs

Disclaimer: Check the past chapters…

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Arianna?" Zuko called throughout the palace, "Where is she?"

"Did you check the training grounds?" Katara asked.

"No, I didn't! Come on!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her with him to the training grounds.

"Agh!" Arianna grunted as she blasted three fireballs at the dummy on the other side. Pleased with the charred remains, she got out of her stance when she saw Zuko and Katara.

"You guys are holding hands." She smirked at the couple on the other side. The two quickly let go and started blushing fiercely. _Wait, isn't Katara engaged?_

Zuko came up to her and whispered something in her ear.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THEY CAME?" Arianna screamed and ran out of the training ground to the entrance of the palace.

"Aang came?" Katara whispered to herself. Zuko just put his hand on her shoulder in comfort and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Arianna POV)

I saw some kind of fuzzy monster land near the entrance and figured that it was the Avatar's bison. A short green girl jumped off the bison. Her raven colored hair was flowing over her eyes and a small smile crawled out of her lips.

"ARIANNA!" She screamed and started running in my direction.

"TOPH!" I ran towards her. We ended up running into each other and fell onto the floor, but I got up and helped her up.

Muffled by the embrace, she started laughing.

"Arianna, this is Aang, the so called GREAT Avatar. Aang, this is my best friend, Arianna." Toph pointed to a taller, muscular Air Nomad man behind her.

"Hey! I'm THE Great Avatar! And don't you forget it!" And he picked up Toph like she was a feather. _I see something her : ) and isn't he engaged too?_

"Put me down!" He finally let go and she just murmured with a small blush appearing, "You're lucky I'm in a good mood."

"Aw, you haven't changed a bit, Toph." And I hugged her again. That's when I saw another blue figure jump out of the bison.

"Who's that?" I pointed to the guy.

"Oh! That's Sokka." She introduced, "Sokka! This is Arianna."

(Sokka POV)

The moment I got down, I saw _her_. She wasn't innocent like Yue. I could tell. And she wasn't warrior-ish like Suki. She was different. She looked Water Tribe. Her skin was pretty dark for a Fire Nation but it was lighter than a Water Tribe. Right in the middle. Her hair, on the other hand, was very Fire Nation. It was a wave of pure black falling to her mid-back. She was wearing a dark red baggy pant that went right above the knee and a light red tank-top. But her eyes were the one that caught me. They weren't the classic Fire Nation amber eyes. They were dark brown, just like me.

"Hey!" She waved to me awkwardly. She must've noticed that I was staring, but her smile was beautiful.

"Hey." And I walked away immediately. _Yue died. Suki killed you. Never love again._

(Arianna POV)

The moment the Sokka guy left, Toph winked at me.

"I'm not the type that falls over for a guy _that_quick, Toph." I rolled my eyes. She punched me in the arm and I didn't even wince.

"Why can't other people be just like you?" She told to no one actually.

"So, what happened back in Gaoling?" She asked cautiously.

A flash of memories passed through me and I tried to stay strong and managed to reply, "I'll tell you everything inside." I forced a smile and pulled her inside.

"_Shut up little girl!" The soldier hissed as he pushed him into a room and locked him in._

"_DAD!" I screamed as another soldier slapped his grimy hands onto my mouth. "Get your filthy hands off of me!" I pushed his hands off and ran to the door. My fingernails raked against the metal in failure. I fell to the ground._

"_Dad." I whispered as I heard a blood-curdling scream inside. _

"Sparkles?"

"Huh!" I jumped up from my seat. Once is saw people stare I stopped and apologized. Toph was on the right of me and Aang was on the left. That Sokka guy was right in front of me but he was just picking at his meat.

"So, Sparkles? You gonna tell us what happened?" Toph insisted as she stuffed herself with some more meat.

"Um…" This was a hard topic to talk about.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell us." Katara apologized. _She's sitting next to Zuko, not Aang._

"It's okay. I think you deserve to know more about me." Everyone nodded and Sokka looked at me in interest. It huts to talk about this, but I have to.

"Before I met Toph in Gaoling, I used to live here, in the Palace City. I was part of the Royal Family. My father was Fire Lady Ursa's younger brother. He joined the army young and was recruited in some of the ships that were assigned to go the Southern Water Tribe to kill the last waterbender." I could see some people flinch at this part of the story, but I continued on. "After seeing how ruthless the Fire Nation was, my father tried his best to stop more people from dying, but failed. During his "heroic save", he met another girl. At first, she didn't trust him, but helped him anyway. They ended up falling in love and the girl sneaked inside the ship with my father. Somehow, she managed to not get caught, but after reaching the Fire Nation months later, my father was sentenced to death for treason. That's when I was born. He escaped and my mother insisted that she come with him. They ran to Gaoling and found out that I was a firebender, so I had to practice in caves and that's where I found Toph."

"What happened after those Earth Kingdom soldiers took you from Gaoling?" Toph asked still confused.

"They killed my father right in front of me. I was only eight when that happened. They thought since he was Fire Nation, he had to be killed." I winced at this memory. Aang put his hand on my shoulder as consolation. It helped and I just smiled.

"Stupid Earth Kingdom soldiers." Sokka muttered to himself.

"It's okay. I would've done the same thing if I was in their position. They were just trying to protect their people from my horrible ones."

"Not all Fire Nation people are bad, though. They should've known that!" Aang came back to my defense.

"Not everyone thinks like you, Aang." Toph replied, "Go on, Arianna."

"Well, after seeing him…on the floor, my mother and I escaped and ran to a different Earth Kingdom town. Son Bay. It was on the western coast of the Earth Kingdom. A few months later, my mother gave birth to my younger brother, Han."

"_What do you want to name him sweetie?"_

"_How about Hanh?" I looked at my squishy-looking brother._

"_Hanh, it is. Look, baby Hanh! It's your sister, Arianna." He started to cry again._

"_I think he's hungry again, Mama." She chuckled. "Yes, he is."_

"He was a firebender also, and sadly, he showed his powers pretty early. He was only five when he got super angry at someone who was making fun of me. I don't want to explain it, but, let's just say that they killed him and my mother as well." Everyone winced at this.

"Well, then what did you do?" Katara asked.

"I was alone and travelling with the haunting images of my dead family. I figured that the only safe place for me was, ironically, back at the Fire Nation. There were so many firebenders there, that I would fit in and that's exactly what I did. I found a family to travel with and made it to one of the villages around the Palace City. I've lived my entire life as an orphan trying her best to make a living. I worked as a waitress in one of the tea shops in the village. Life was rough and all I wanted was the stupid War to end. I never really made any friends. After the War ended, I met Zuko and here and explained everything."

"I'm impressed," Toph declared, "It takes power to see your family get murdered right in front of you and work hard for your own life."

"Why did you still go against the Fire Nation when the Earth Kingdom was the one that killed your family?" Sokka asked curiously. _He's smart._

I stared into his eyes, "Because I'm better than that. I'm not the kind of person that would lose track of reality for personal reasons."

"I'm not the kind of girl that sits down and mopes." I whispered to myself.

"No, you're not. Can I talk to you?" Sokka came up behind me.

"Sure. Come on, I know the best place to go." I took him to the turtleduck pond in the middle of the palace.

"They're so cute!" He started making googly faces at one baby duck when the mama duck came and bit his nose.

"OW! Damn duck!" He rubbed his nose and I started laughing.

"You okay?" I asked as I came closer to look at his nose. The space was becoming smaller and the awkwardness was increasing. I started laughing to ease it up.

"I can see some teeth marks!" He started pouting and I just playfully hit him on the arm.

"So, why'd you call me?" I asked him carefully.

"Sorry for acting so rude before."

"Oh, it's okay" I assured him, but he seemed determined that he had to do this.

" No, it's not. I shouldn't have let my personal problems get in the way." His head hung low and there was a slight pause.

"If you don't mind, can you tell me what the problem was?" He looked into my eyes and saw how badly I wanted to help him and he agreed.

He finally gave in and confessed, "Well, I just proposed to this girl and she rejected me."

"Did you love her?" I asked pretty straightforward.

"What?" He seemed surprised that I wasn't consoling him. No classic _oh I'm sorry_.

I explained what I thought true love needed, "Would you have been there for her whenever something bad happened? Would you have killed yourself just to let her live? Could you honestly tell someone that she would do the same?"

He didn't answer at first.

"No. I couldn't have guaranteed that." He confessed slowly

"Then she didn't love you and you have to get over it." I fixed as though it was that easy, because it _is_that easy.

"But-" Poor guy, still confused.

"No buts. You have to move on and live so she doesn't have the pleasure to say that she ruined your life. Once you find a girl that would die for you and you the same, then come back to me and tell me if there's any problem."

I smiled and walked away satisfied.

(Sokka POV)

"No buts! You have to move on and live so she doesn't have the pleasure to say that she ruined your life. Once you find a girl that would die for you and you the same, then come back to me and tell me if there's any problem."

And she walked away. _She's right. She knows more about love than me and I bet she's never been in a relationship._

(Katara POV)

"I'm telling him now." Zuko perked up at this.

"Finally!" I gave him a frown, "I mean…be easy on him. I don't want our friendship ruined by this."

_I hope mine with him isn't either._I walked through the halls to bump into Toph.

"Hey, Toph! Have you seen Aang?"

"Yeah, he's in his room. Be easy on him." She whispered.

"I'll try, but he likes you, so it'll be okay!" I smiled.

"Just shut up and go." With that she walked away. _They're so in love._ I cautiously knocked on the door.

"Aang? You there? I need to talk to you." I knocked again.

"Yeah, one sec, I'm coming!" He shouted through the door. It opened and he hugged me.

"Um, Aang?" I muffled through the orange mess of his robes.

"Yes?" He asked sweetly.

"Let go, please."

"Ok." And he let go as the guilt came pouring out of me.

"Well..how do I say this? Um…"

"You want to break up?" He asked solemnly. I was in shock.

"How'd you-,"

"Toph told me a moment ago." He interrupted.

"Oh. I'm sorry Aang, but we never really had any connection, you know? And I really love Zuko. I'm sorry I did it behind your back, and you can hate me but I still love him."

"It's fine. I'm just disappointed that you didn't tell me before and you had to GO BEHIND MY BACK! But other than that, I'm fine."

"I'm so sorry, Aang! But I _love_Zuko."

"I'm fine with that. I'm actually happy that you found someone." And he hugged me again.

"Still friends?" I asked just to be safe.

"Of course! Best friend!" And I kissed him on the cheek as a goodbye kiss.

"And anyway, you've got Toph!" I smirked and left before he could even answer. I looked back and he was blushing.

_I'm so good at these kind of stuff!_


	5. Chapter 5:Sokka's SHINING Moments

Disclaimer: Check the past chapters…

And thanks for the reviews, they're really helping me and I'm glad someone's reading this! XD PLEASE PEOPLE! REVIEW!

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Toph POV)

"Hey! Arianna!" Dinner was finished. Sokka and Arianna had talked for a while. I had just finished talking to Aang and I think Katara just left to talk to him now.

"Hey, Toph!" She waved as I pulled her through the winding hallways of the palace and out of the palace. We walked all the way to the South end of the Palace City.

"Where are we going?" She asked as we made it to our destination.

"We still have a _lot _of catching up to do," I explained, "So, I thought we could catch up over here." I smirked as I saw her take in all of her surroundings.

"How is it?" I'm pretty sure she loved it. It must be really pretty with eyes. _Too bad I'll never find out._

"It's beautiful." She stared at the scene. From my vision, it was still a pretty sight. It was made after the War ended, in honor of all the four elements. There were small hills coming out of the volcanic rock of the dormant volcano underneath. A medium sized river creeped its way through those hills and fell with a loud crash underneath. There were little creeks all around the Garden that all joined together at the foot of the fall. I could feel the crisp grass underneath and the soft mud around the creeks. Flowers of all kinds scattered themselves throughout the area and swayed to the beat of the wind. Aang told me that most of them were fire lilies, the flower of the Fire Nation. He even found a few panda lilies on the edge of the Volcano above the hills.

"It's the Garden of the Nations." I explained, "It just might be one of the best things Sparky ever did."

I could hear her laughing as I lied on the ground and enjoyed the smell of mud.

"You have some awesome friends, Toph." She sighed, "You're lucky."

"Hey, you have some pretty awesome friends too!" I slapped her back, "You have me!" We both laughed so much.

"Just like the good, ol' times." I laughed.

"Yeah." She agreed, "How'd you become friends with the Avatar?"

I started laughing at the memories and told her the entire story.

"So, you guys basically had a food fight?" She laughed at the thought of a bunch of kids having a food fight in front of _my_parents. "Wait, what did your parents do?"

"What?"

"What did your parents do when you ran away?" She was careful not to bring up bad memories, but it still did.

"They sent some two idiotic men after me, but I still beat them up!" I boasted. Arianna just laughed and playfully slapped my arm.

"Now _that's_ my Toph!" I could feel the sun's rays fading away and a sense of darkness come. After a few more moments of reminiscing in the memories, she finally asked the _dreaded_question.

"Toph," Her tone became more serious, "Did you ever see your parents after you ran away?"

"Well, I can't actually 'see'-," I played around when she interrupted me.

"Toph. Don't tell me that you never saw them again!"

"I didn't." I softly confessed, "I bet they don't even want to see me again." I defended.

"No," I could feel her hand on my shoulder, "They're your parents, no matter how controlling they are. Don't throw them away. You need them more than you know. Trust me, I would know." I could feel her tense up from the thought of her parents and I didn't know what to say.

"Just promise me that you'll meet them soon." She pleaded.

"Okay." _I have to, at least, promise her that._

"Come on. We better go. It's getting pretty late." And she got up and put her hand to help me up too. I just nodded saying that I didn't need it and earthbended myself up.

It must have been a touching sight: two friends, walking with each other's hands on each other's shoulders with the moon behind them; just laughing and enjoying life. Good times…

_Aang is rubbing off on me. Damn monk._

(Arianna's POV)

"Where were you guys?" Aang screamed as Toph and I walked into the palace from our "catching up with our childhood best friend" talk was over.

"Sheesh, what's up _your_butt?" I could see the Avatar blushing slightly at the comment and then turn his serious face back on.

"Seriously, Toph!"

"Ugh, we were just at the Garden, Twinkles, calm down." I laughed at how calm she could be. Looking at this from Aang's point of view, us leaving without telling anyone was pretty bad. Then again, he was kind of overreacting.

"Do all Avatars overreact this much?" I whispered questioningly into Toph's ear.

She raised her eyebrows, placed her hands on her hips and asked, "Do I look _that_old?"

I just laughed at her humor and walked to the kitchen to get some "midnight" snacks, even though it's only been a few hours since dinner. I pulled at some weird looking meat and was about to take some when Sokka came and grabbed it from my grasp.

"_My_seal jerky!" He looked all crazy with disheveled hair and comical eyes.

Katara came behind him with Zuko not far behind. She looked at my confused expression and Sokka holding the seal jerky like he was holding his baby.

"Sokka! Share some with Arianna! I'm so sorry, Arianna." She apologized for her brother, "He gets touchy about his meat."

"Oh!" I laughed, "That's okay."

"But, Katara!" He whined in a baby voice. She just pointed to me.

"Fine." And he reluctantly handed me some. I just took it and stuffed my mouth with it. He looked pretty impressed and shocked at the same time.

"Hey, girls can like meat too." I walked away knowing that he was still staring at me. Katara just smiled at my action; Zuko wasn't even paying attention; Aang and Toph were still at each other.

_Yup…_

_Awesome friends indeed._

(Still Arianna's POV)

***next morning***

"Toph! Wake up!" I'm a firebender; I wake up pretty early. She's Toph; she wakes up pretty late.

I could hear her grunt some inappropriate things and fall back to sleep.

"Toph!" I tried again, "We're having a bending battle soon and if you don't come then you won't get to beat up Aang!"

She jumped up and screamed, "I'll be out in a sec!" Next thing I knew I was on the floor (stomach down) as the door behind me slammed closed.

"She just can't pass up an opportunity to beat up Aang, huh?" I whispered to myself, still on the floor.

"Nope, but that's Toph for you!" I saw some boots right in front of me and looked up.

"Sokka, it's not polite to leave a girl on the floor." I smirked as he brought his hand out and helped me up. It would have been fine if I didn't slip and fall. I was expecting hard floor but instead felt warm skin. I opened my eyes and saw Sokka right in front of me. He just stared into my eyes (I did the same) until we finally noticed what position we were in. He brought me up and started blushing.

"Sorry." He whispered as he looked at my feet.

"It's okay." I blushed as well and bit my lip. He looked up in that classic, stare-at-the-girl-from-toe-to-head move. I laughed the awkwardness of and grabbed his wrist and started pulling him to the kitchen.

"Where to?" He asked.

"I'm hungry." I complained and looked back at him smiling.

"Okay, how this is going to work is that we're going to have two separate groups. Girls: Toph, Katara, and me are in one team. Guys: Sokka, Aang, and Zuko are in the second team. The finalist from each team is going to go against the finalist from the other team. If you fall out of the arena, you're out."

"But Sokka can't bend!" Toph mentioned rather bluntly.

"I'm still as good!" He whined. Everyone started talking. I ended up blasting fire from my mouth into the sky. Everyone shut up after that.

"Now, that we've solved that problem, first up are the guys." All three of them walked into the arena and got into their own stances. I walked into the middle.

"Before we start, Aang, you can only use one kind of bending. You can choose which one." I made sure to announce that before we started. He nodded and I took it as if he already chose. _I bet it's air._

"Let the fight begin!" I screamed and walked off the arena before I get burned.

Toph and Katara were cheering from the seats. I just shrugged and screamed, "Go Aang!" Sokka turned to me and gave me that pouty face. "You too, Sokka!" He smiled and turned back with his boomerang and sword. (He got a new one made after his _space sword_ died during Sozin's Comet.)

Zuko was the first to act.

_Not surprised. Firebenders are usually the first._

He sent two fire blasts at Aang and Sokka. Sokka, surprisingly, dodged it by flipping backwards.

_Didn't know he could do that._

Aang dodged it and sent a series of boulders at Zuko.

_Wait! Boulders? He picked earth!_I glanced at Toph and I could see her cheering Aang on. _Young love. Pretty entertaining._I smiled.

The first thing I saw was Sokka and Aang teaming up on Zuko. _Pretty Funny._

Sokka was sending his sword in every open space in Zuko's stance while Aang was helping Sokka from the fire. Out of nowhere Aang sinks into the ground. Zuko didn't notice since now, he was too busy with Sokka. Finally Zuko got fed up of Sokka and sent a fire blast at him and turned to see Aang behind him. Sokka flew all the way out of the ring and onto the floor. All of us girls were staring at him to see if he would come up. In a second, he pounced back up and screamed, "I'm okay!" He had the biggest smile in the world for someone who lost. He ran over to the seats and sat beside me. I stared at him and saw a pretty big burn near his eye.

"Sokka! You got burned!" I ripped some of my skirt and poured some water from my bottle onto the piece of cloth. I started dabbing it near his eye. A blush crept on his cheek and that's when I noticed how close we were.

"Stop with the blushing, Sokka. I'm just helping you. I can stop if you want, but I doubt that you would want to end up like Zuko." His eyes grew big in the thought of him having a scar just like Zuko. I rolled my eyes. He just smiled and let me keep dabbing the dirt off his burn. I figured that after the dirt's out, Katara could heal the burn.

"You did good out there!" Trying to make small talk.

"But I lost." He whispered. He had those puppy dog eyes and I couldn't resist anymore. I kissed him on the cheek and whispered, "You still looked pretty hot." I could feel him shiver from my breath on his ear. I laughed and turned around to watch the battle.

"Were you joking?" He asked confused. _Of course not, you idiot!_

"What do _you_think?" _Let's make him suffer! Yeah! It's good being the girl._

He just seemed baffled and turned around to get Katara to heal his burns. I could feel him staring at me randomly, but, other than that, it wasn't awkward. It was pretty entertaining.

"Yeah! Go Aang! Give him the final blow!" Toph screamed as Aang sent an earth wave at Zuko making him fall all the way off the arena. I ran up to the arena and, being the host of this battle, took his hand, put it in the air and screamed, "The winner is Avatar Aang!" It was unnecessary, but it was still fun.

The girls were up next and let me tell you that it wasn't easy to knock Katara off the arena. She's an _awesome_bender, but being alone for years with nothing else to do but practice bending kind of makes me a better bender. Now, let's kill Toph.

She sent a few earth pillars at me while I dodged it by ducking and quickly kicked my feet and sent a disc of fire under her to trip her. Before the disc could reach her she bended herself up and now she was standing on top of her giant pillar with an elevation advantage. I bended two rockets behind me and flew up and landed on the pillar as well. She sent the pillar smashing down in hopes that the impact with the ground would send me flying. I jumped down with all of my agility and fell completely in stance. I made a giant circular fire around the arena. Sensing the increasing heat, she raised an earth wall and let it fall between us. It stopped the fire and she quickly sent a line of twisted columns at me. It punched me and I was sent flying all the way across the arena.

_Agni, my head!_

I walked up to Toph and punched her in the arm while my other hand was massaging my head. "You're good!"

"They don't call me the Master of Earthbending for no reason!" She boasted.

"Well, tomorrow, you and Aang have to face off." _Poor Aang, he's dead._"Let's go eat lunch!" Sokka seemed to pop out of nowhere and started running inside.

"That's some brother you got, Katara." She smiled and started talking about this one time when he drank some cactus juice and went crazy. I ended up laughing so hard at the picture. _I can SO see Sokka doing that._

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Sokka POV)

"You're really good at fire bending, Arianna." Aang complimented as he was stuffing himself with some salad. _What kind of idiot eats salad?_

"Thanks," She replied, "I better be since practicing fire bending is all I ever did when I was alone." The room became quiet as the topic of her parents was brought up.

"Spirits, guys! That was long ago! I've gotten over it." She laughed and eased the tension off. "So, Sokka…" My head popped up from my plate as I heard my name.

"Yeah?" I muffled through my meat-filled mouth. Everyone on the table laughed as I took a napkin and wiped my mouth. Katara stared at me in shock.

"What? I can use a napkin!" I whined to Katara. She smiled and went back to her plate.

"I heard about your cactus juice incident. You never told me you were into drinking!" She smirked. _How'd she find out?_

I mouthed, "Katara?" and she nodded. _Damn. Now, Arianna thinks I drink! THANKS A LOT KATARA!_

"I'm not! You should've seen the time when she STOLE FROM PIRATES!" I smirked. That memory wasn't my sister's favorite thing.

"They stole it from waterbenders!" She defended.

"That doesn't explain why you harassed Aang for being _better_than you!" I'm going to end up dead soon if I don't stop, but I need my fun too!

"I said sorry!" She cried, "And don't forget the time when you were stuck in a hole with a baby saber-tooth lion! You did some pretty stupid things, Sokka." I lay defeated.

"What about the time you had that stupid Wang Fire costume?" Aang butted in.

"And the time you thought Appa ate Momo!" Toph reminded.

"You thought Appa ate Momo?" Arianna asked while giggling.

"Hehe. Yeah…" I was blushing from embarrassment.

"And the time you got mad at Momo when he spilt all the water when I was giving it to you." Katara remembered.

"Oh yeah! He started screaming, 'MOMO NOOOO! YOU'VE KILLED US ALL!'," Toph screamed. Everyone started laughing.

"And the time you thought you were an earthbender!" Aang shared.

"And when you became a detective with that bubble pipe and that weird hat." Katara mentioned.

"Remember when I asked who Zuko was and Sokka said, 'Just some angry freak with a ponytail who's tracked us all around the world.'," Toph added.

"Should you really make fun of someone's ponytail, Mr. Ponytail?" Arianna laughed.

Before I could answer, Katara shouted, "That's exactly what I said!" The entire table started laughing so hard.

"Yay! Everyone's having fun while I'm _not_." I sulked.

"Hey! Without you, there wouldn't be any funny things to remember! Like when you were mad at that fortune teller! You were all like, 'That woman is crazy! My life will be calm, and happy, and joyful!' You kicked the rock and it ended up hitting you." Aang impersonated me and it was pretty good. Even _I_started laughing.

"Seems like you're the comedy-relief guy around here." Arianna told me after dinner finished.

"Yup," I boasted, "And the meat and sarcasm guy."

She smiled and went to her room.

_Should you really hit on another girl after Suki?_

Do NOT say her name again. And Arianna's different. I can tell.

_It's too fast and you can't trust anyone now._

What do I do?

_Just explain it to her. Don't be too harsh, though._

REVIEW PLEASE! This chapter was all Arianna and Sokka. I'm not a Zutara person, so don't expect a lot of that couple anytime soon. Taang WILL be there, though, so if you're a taang person, YOU JUST HIT JACKPOT! : )


	6. Chapter 6:Injuries Emotional andPhysical

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN AVATAR, OKAY?

Okay, I've got the next seven chapters all planned out and you guys are in for an AWESOME story! I'm shaking right now…

Sorry if I sound like those crazy writers, but hey…I'm not that kind of writer, so PLEASE REVIEW! They're appreciated.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Sokka POV)

Well. Today, after lunch, the final battle between Aang and Toph happened. Of course, Aang had to pick one element. This time he picked airbending, but Toph still won. _Damn, I owe Zuko a silver piece. _

But Aang still did pretty good. Let me just say that Toph ended up with a pretty bruised leg while Aang was knocked out for about twenty minutes.

"Is he alive?" I poked at the lifeless Avatar's body.

"Sokka!" Katara pushed my arm away, "Stop it!" And she bended some water to heal some of his bruises. It wasn't that bad, but he had some small cuts on his leg. _Poor kid._

"Will he be okay?" I asked curiously. A shrewd voice came from the other side of the room.

"He'll be okay. He's the Avatar, but he still needs to know that I can beat him whenever I want." _She's pretty arrogant for someone who also got hurt. _

"Says the girl who has a broken leg." Sarcasm. My best friend.

"It's bruised! And it's not that bad, right Katara?" She defended.

"Sure." She was too busy with Aang. That when I noticed Zuko staring at me.

"Here." I pouted and reached into my pocket. He smiled at the shiny silver item in his palm and walked away.

"Stupid Fire Lord."

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Aang POV)

_Where am I?_

_Last thing I remember is getting knocked out by a boulder. Damn Toph! Why'd she do that? _

"Woke up?" I turned around to see my bully sitting next to me. I looked at the cast on her leg and smirked.

"Yup. And I see you had your fair share of beating as well."

"Don't rub it in, Twinkles. I still managed to knock you out." A smug smile tugged at her lips.

"How long was I out?" I looked at my hands and legs. Bruise-free. Thanks Katara!

"About twenty minutes. Not much."

"Where's everyone else?" "Kitchen. Come on! I'm hungry!" It was hard to go to the kitchen because I was still kind of dizzy and Toph couldn't really see so she kept bumping into me.

"Sorry. Can't really 'see' right now with the cast and all." "It's okay. You need help?"

"Nah. I can do this by myself." _Typical Toph._

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Still Aang)

"Hey, Aang, I need to give you something." Katara whispered to me when I was walking away from the table after lunch.

"Yeah?" "Here." She handed me an all too familiar blue ribbon and locket.

"Yeah. Forgot about that." I sounded worse than I wanted to.

"Sorry." "It's okay." I clenched my teeth as I felt some kind of feeling inside. I'm not sure if it's hurt or _freedom_?

"No. You must've spent a _long _time on that."

"Hey, as long as we're still friends, I'm fine." I smiled and hugged her. She looked sympathetically to me, but I reassured her that I'm fine. The last look I got from her is a **I'm-sorry-but-I-know-that-you're-going-to-be-fine** look.

I rolled my eyes at how motherly Katara could be and walked to the rest of the guys. Sokka and Arianna were talking about the cactus juice from yesterday again and Arianna is trying to make him go to a therapist. He keeps telling her that he doesn't need one because he _is _one. Remember the Wang Fire thing when I couldn't sleep and got nightmares? Yup, he still thinks that his _alter-ego _is actually a therapist, but I agree with Arianna. He _needs _a therapist and quick.

"I told you Arianna! I _AM _a therapist!" Stupid Sokka! Wearing a beard doesn't change your personality.

Just when I was about to tell Sokka that he's wrong, Zuko stood up and burned his shirt. We all stared at him like he was crazy and I can guarantee you that I saw Katara drooling from his finely chiseled body under his charred shirt. _Did I just call Zuko FINELY CHISELED? What the hell is happening to me?_

"I think _he's _the one that needs that therapist." Sokka whispered to Arianna, but I could hear him.

"Zuko?" Katara screamed, "What are you doing?" _Finally out of your daze state?_

He casually wiped the fire off with his bare hands and seemed pretty satisfied that he got our attention.

"I needed to tell you guys something." He offhandedly announced. _Yup, he's got the crazy disease from the rest of his family._

"So you _BURNED _your shirt?" She hollered completely confused.

"It's okay, Katara. He's a firebender, so nothing would've happened. Heck, its easy raise your body temperature to defend yourself." Arianna explained.

Sokka, being the kind of guy he is, tried touching her shoulder, but Arianna, already predicting that he would try to pull a stunt like this and heated it up. Sokka ended up screaming and sucking his finger.

"What did you want to say?" I just wanted to get to the point. _Wow, Toph is rubbing off on me. And I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I'm pretty sure one Toph around here is good enough._

"My Uncle is coming in a few days." Zuko smiled and that was one of the rare times I ever saw him smile, "He thinks that it's been a while since he's seen us so he's already on the way."

"Yay! Tea-man is coming!" Toph punched the air in delight. All of us stared with eyebrows raised.

"What? I've always like the old man." She mumbled.

"Anyway, that's great, Zuko." Katara kissed him on the cheek and I could see a small blush creep on both of them. "I know that you miss Iroh a lot."

"Yeah. He makes awesome tea and I kind of miss it." I joined in.

"Zuko! Does he know that I'm here?" Arianna asked.

"I told him everything and he replied back saying that he loved your parents and would love to meet you." I could see Arianna smile from Zuko's comment.

"He's a nice guy. You'll _love _him!" Sokka elbowed Arianna.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

(Arianna POV)

After that little Zuko stunt, we were pretty chatty. I was talking with Katara when I felt someone behind me.

"Hey, Arianna? Can we talk?" Sokka turned his serious tone on.

"Yeah. Let's go somewhere else." I figured that the Garden would be the best place. It was only a ten minute walk and a very peaceful, quiet walk I must say. Sokka seemed to be avoiding any chance of conversation. _What's wrong with him? Is something wrong?_

"Whoah!" Sokka admired the Garden despite the fact that he's been here once before.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I stared at the full moon grazing the hills.

"Yeah." I could see the reflection of the moon in his blue eyes. The moonlight just made them sparkle even more, but I could see a tint of sadness too. His eyes are like doorways to his heart. Every little emotion he feels, you can see it through the aqua ocean he calls his eyes. Whether it's despair, joy, hurt, worry, or even curious.

"So, what did you want to tell me?" I asked. He seemed a little down.

"Well," He turned around, "Arianna, I really like you." My heart went soaring only to sink soon after. "But I can't do this."

"Why? Is it me?" I sounded more desperate than I needed to be. He vigorously shook his head.

"No! It's not you. You're perfect in every way." I blushed and he smiled, but he quickly wiped it away. "But, I can't do this. I haven't had a lot of good luck with my life and I don't think you-,"

"You think I'm bad luck?" I asked shocked. How could he say that?

"No!" His eyes shot up as he noticed what he had just said. "Not at all. You're _good _luck, but it's just that I can't really trust you."

"So now you think I'm bad luck and you can't _trust _me?" This is unbelievable! His head hung down as he tried to work out something in his stupid head of his.

"Arianna, I've been through a lot and I just can't-," I interrupted him.

"And you don't think that _I've _been through a lot? I've been beat up by every Nation in this world! I shouldn't be able to trust _you_!" And I stormed out of there before he could say anything.


	7. Chapter 7: Lights and Engagement

**A/N: Zutara fans, REJOICE! This will be a great chapter for you, and you better be happy since I'm a partial Kataang and I don't really like Zutara. Take this chapter as a present for July 4****th**** and in return, I would really appreciate some reviews. Thanks for all the people reading this story. **

**And this will be the first time that I don't use a POV. I think you'll like it better. Enjoy! AND REVIEW! **

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

The harsh winds from last night in the Garden still remained. Arianna still hasn't spoken to Sokka since she stormed out and now it was the morning. She couldn't admit to herself that she really liked Sokka and the feeling she felt right now, in the bottom of her fragile heart, was love for the comic relief boy. But now, she felt betrayed and broken. Living alone hasn't really helped her with these "boy" problems. All her life, she's had to work hard to survive with the haunting images of her now dead parents and sweet brother.

The beautiful Fire Nation teenager walked outside. Zuko had kept a small outdoor living space just to admire the beautiful sunrise the Fire Nation boasts. Katara, at the time, was doing just that. Arianna sat in a nearby chair, picked up her own cup of tea, and admired the ball of fire as it soared up into the sky.

"I'm so glad I found Aang in that iceberg." Katara turned around and savored the warmth of the tea dripping down her throat. "If I hadn't, I would never have travelled and seen this beautiful sunrise." A small smile tugged at Arianna's lips as she thought of the few _good _things that the Fire Nation could share with the world.

"I bet the Southern Water Tribe has a few sites to see as well." Katara grinned as she was reminded of her home. "I've never seen snow before." Her smile went away as she stared at Arianna in utter shock.

"What? You've never seen snow?" The older teenager just nodded. "You're coming with me and Sokka next time we go down there!" Katara was enthusiastic, but Arianna's features hardened at the mention of Sokka.

"What's wrong?" Katara's motherly instincts were kicking in again and this time, poor Arianna was on the receiving end.

"It's nothing." She whispered and sipped at her tea. Katara noticed that the girl wasn't ready to talk about it just yet and backed off of the subject, which is something she rarely does. She's more of the kind that butts into your personal space.

"So, do you have anything special to do today?" Arianna asked in an attempt to start a conversation.

"Zuko wants to take me out tonight." She took another calm sip and shivered as the warm drink fell through her throat again. She seemed to enjoy her tea a lot. "I'm glad that I found someone."

Arianna clenched her teeth at this and went into her own anger again. _Why does my life have to be so hard? _She thought to herself. Katara noticed her friend's actions and grew worried.

"Arianna. You can tell me what's wrong." She put her hand on Arianna's shoulder. The older girl turned around and looked into Katara's eyes. The waterbender could see a mix of feelings in her friend's brown eyes: love, anger, and distress. _What could've happened to her? _Katara's motherly thoughts swarmed her with a few possibilities. Before she could comment on anything, the firebender pushed her consoling hand off of her shoulder and walked away leaving Katara completely confused.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Zuko and Katara are going out tonight right?" Toph asked her fellow airbender as she picked at her toes. The airbender nodded. "Well, let's go out somewhere!" She seemed pretty excited that she was finally getting out of the boring Fire Palace.

"Where?" The Avatar perked up at the thought of finally doing something.

"I remember Sokka told me that there's some kind of festival going on tonight. Something called the Light Festival."

"Let's go! It could be fun." Aang, always the optimistic one, was obviously entertained with the idea.

"Anything's better than being cooped up in here." Toph agreed, "But, it's a masked event. You need to wear a mask and an itchy dress." She seemed down on the idea, but Aang was determined to go out.

"We'll buy some masks and you can get a dress from Katara!" Aang's mouth went dry at the thought of Toph in one of Katara's dresses.

Toph groaned, "Fine!" Aang hugged her quickly; he knew how hard it was for Toph to wear a dress and had his _own _way of thanking her.

"I'll ask Sokka if he wants to come too!" And he ran off (airbending-enhanced) leaving a small blush on Toph's cheeks.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Where are you taking me?" Katara flirtatiously asked her Fire Lord boyfriend knowing that her touch was one of his weaknesses. (The need for honor comes to a close second)

"It's a surprise." A smug grin graced his face. Katara was one of the few people who could ever make this Fire Lord smile.

"Let's go!" He listened to his girl's order and took her to Appa's stable. Aang had let them use him for the night and this wouldn't be the first time Zuko and Katara went on Appa alone. (The Southern Raiders)

After an hour of flying and shameless flirting, the couple made it to their destination. Katara was left awestruck and Zuko was beaming with pride.

"I take it that you like it." He smooth talked. Katara glanced at his figure behind her and smirked. She quickly pulled her "Fire Lord" in for a passionate kiss as a thank you.

He took her to one of the beaches off the coast of a small deserted Fire Nation island. It was a beautiful scene. It was around lunch, so the sun's rays were shining all over the sparkling sand. The sand was, surprisingly, _very _soft. Of course, due to the weather, the water was pretty cool, but it felt pretty soothing from the harsh sunshine. It was the classic beach and Zuko brought a picnic basket, beach chairs, and an umbrella.

"I love it." She whispered after their kiss. He smiled and layed out the blanket and started taking the food items out of the basket.

"What are you doing?" She asked with her hands on her hips as she watched Zuko.

"Setting the food up," he explained, "Why?"

"I'm not hungry! Let's go swim!" She laughed and ripped all of her clothes of leaving only her undergarments. Zuko smiled mischieviously, took off his shirt, and ran after his waterbender.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

*that night; back in the Palace City*

The Avatar patiently waited outside his sifu's room as she was getting ready. Katara had made sure that some workers would help Toph into her dress; she secretly told them to put some make up on her, but knowing Toph, it's not going to happen.

Aang was wearing a Fire Nation suit. After all, it _is _a _Fire Nation _festival, so he felt it was only appropriate to wear the specific item. His short black hair wasn't in a topknot, but he still looked as Fire Nation as he could be.

The bored-out-of-his-wits Avatar entertained himself with a small ball of water. The water fell out of the bender's grasp as the door opened and the beauty inside walked out.

"I wish I could see you face right now, Twinkle Toes." Toph smirked as she could feel Aang's gaze on her petite body.

"You look beautiful, Toph." He was at a loss for words. Toph was wearing a red, Fire Nation dress for the same reason Aang was a Fire Nation suit: it only seemed appropriate. The dress reached her toes. Her shoes were missing their soles for her sight. The dress, anyone could tell, was tailored to her exact measurements to compliment every curve that the Spirits had graced the young girl with. Her hair was down and her green, cloudy eyes stared into the space.

"Enough drooling. Let's go!" She pulled him by the wrist as the Avatar thought how lucky he was to meet Toph.

The Light Festival was exactly that; there were lights everywhere that glowed against the dark sky. All the streets of the Fire Nation Palace City were filled with joyful citizens enjoying the beautiful fire bending displays. It reminded Aang of the glory days in the Fire Nation before Sozin and his crazed descendants.

"We need to buy a mask. I think it's over there." Aang noticed the rack of masks near the food carts.

Aang had picked black one with slits for the eye while Toph got one that only covered the eye area. It was the classic red Fire Nation lace mask with a red rose and feathers on one side, but Aang just thought Toph looked more attractive with it.

"You hungry?" Aang asked.

"Actually, I am." She rubbed her growling stomach, "Let's get something."

The two walked to the food carts nearby and Aang ordered, "I'll have one fire flakes, please." The man didn't notice that he was talking with the Avatar. The mask and his hair blocked his arrow.

"Yes, sir. And what would your girlfriend want?" The man asked politely. Aang's eyes widened.

"I'm not his girlfriend, but I'll have the Spicy Noodles." "Yes, no problem. Sorry about that." The man apologized and started getting the food.

Toph seemed so calm but inside, her heart was exploding. Little did she know that the same thing was happening inside the Avatar's heart.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

After a long day of fooling around in the water and making a bunch of stupid sand castles only to be swallowed by the waves again, the couple finally went onto one of the cliffs above and just enjoyed their time together. Katara's head fit perfectly into Zuko's neck.

"I love you, Zuko." She whispered as she stared into his amber eyes. He smiled and pulled her up to stand.

"What?" She asked. He knelt on one knee and amused himself with Katara's reaction.

"I love you too, Katara, and I want to love you forever, but as my wife. We've been through so much together and there's just one thing I want to ask now. Will you marry me?" He brought out a ring (A Fire Nation tradition) and smiled.

"Yes!" She screamed and kissed him. After a few moments of pure love and joy between the engaged couple, Katara brought up something, "We need to go to my father and ask for permission. I doubt that you already asked him for permission."

"Yes, we will." Zuko smiled.

"Zuko, I need to tell you something." Katara started slowly, "I'm pregnant."

**A/N: I based the Light Festival of the Fire Nation on the Hindu festival, Diwali; also known as the "festival of lights". The mask that Toph wore is a kind of Spanish Mardi Gras mask with those feathers on the side.**

And remember in the first chapter? Zuko and Katara had a "moment" and that's why this happened.


	8. Chapter 8: Iroh With Gifts

Disclaimer: Don't own Avatar or its characters.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"What do you mean?" Zuko asked surprised. "How can you tell this early?"

"I just know it." Katara seemed determined that she was right. Zuko nodded and looked at her stomach.

"At least, we're engaged." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled too, but on the inside, he was screaming in fear. _My father wasn't the best father in the world. How can I be a good father? _He thought to himself.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

Sokka lied on his bed, staring at the ceiling. The darkness of the night was overwhelming. He was subconsciously asking for help; from anyone. He hasn't really had much good experience with the other gender; however, now he has a chance to try again, but he isn't sure if he should take it.

"What do I do?" He screamed to no one in particular.

"You take it." A silky voice came out from nowhere. The now scared-out-of-his-wits Sokka screamed like a girl and pulled his blanket to his chin.

"Who is it?" He whispered raspily.

"Sokka, it's me." A white figure came out of nowhere. Pale lavender cloth wrapped around her glowing skin. Her pure white hair flowed from the non-existing wind and her eyes sparkled; her lips were icy and cool.

"Yue." He whispered as he took off the blanket.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

It was a warm Fire Nation morning. The sun was slowly crawling up into the sky to wake up the inhabitants underneath its glowing rays. Today was the day Iroh would come to visit. He already knew of his nephew's engagement and was happy for the couple. Gossip spread fast in this world, and the Avatar's cancellation of his engagement was already worldwide-news. The Fire Lord's engagement, on the other hand, was quite new and was still making its way to the rest of the nations.

Zuko was sitting and drinking his tea peacefully. Toph and Arianna came up behind him, laughing at some distant memories, and seated themselves beside the Fire Lord. Toph didn't really wake up this early, but Arianna was rubbing off on her.

"What's up Sparky?" Toph asked Zuko. He turned around and shrugged. Toph was unaware of the engagement; everyone was, except for Arianna. After all, she _was_ family and had pried it out of Zuko before he left with Katara a few days ago. Zuko had wanted to announce the engagement when his Uncle arrived and Katara solemnly agreed.

Arianna smiled at her older cousin while sipping some of her own tea. "I can't wait to meet General Iroh." She politely announced, "He must be a great guy if he can make such great tea." Zuko lips curved as he felt the tea dripping in his throat.

"You better call him Uncle. He doesn't like being called General Iroh." Toph pointed out. Zuko nodded in agreement.

Arianna made sure to note that in her mind so she doesn't accidentally call the man General Iroh. The three sat in silence, drinking.

"Twinkle Toes is sick." Toph announced. Arianna stared at Toph with sympathy. She knew how close the two were. "Katara's thinks he has some sort of fever. I'm not sure."

_Why is Katara bending? She's supposed to be careful! She's carrying our baby now, doesn't she know that! _The inner Zuko was screaming.

"He'll get better." Zuko smiled, "He always does." He recounted the time he believed Aang was dead. No one could possibly kill someone as optimistic, playful, yet as powerful as Aang.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Katara?" Zuko whispered as he looked for his fiancée after his meeting.

"Yes, Zuko?" She looked at the shocked expression on his face and became scared.

"I have something to tell you." She nodded, "The Dai Li leader, I don't know his name, is plotting something. They have some new rebel group called the _**Black Agni**_. It's against the Fire Nation and the Avatar for siding with me."

"Is Azula in on it?" Katara asked warily. Zuko shook his head resulting in a sigh of relief from Katara.

"But, we need to be careful. With the baby too." Zuko looked at her abdomen and Katara lifted his chin.

"The baby will be okay. And we'll plot against the group after the marriage, okay? Let's announce the engagement today, like planned, and get married in a month. Just our friends and family. We don't have time for a big event."

Zuko nodded and walked away.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Thank you." The waiter smiled as he took another sip from his tea.

"No, thank you." Iroh bowed. He just helped another person with his famous advice. The waiter was having 'love problems' and Iroh was glad to share some insight while he poured some tea for the man.

Iroh had always been there for his nephew, and now he was sharing his wonderful wisdom with everyone who needed it or asked for it. He was still the jolly, tea-lover man. The Jasmine Dragon was becoming a quite successful franchise and was spreading throughout Ba Sing Se. It never reached the rest of the Earth Kingdom, but Iroh always believed in taking one step at a time.

He looked at the sunrise from the ship and smiled. He was almost there. And he couldn't wait to meet his new niece. Of course, he had always known of Ursa's brother and his drastic fate; but he never knew that he had a daughter before he got banished.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Aang! He's coming!" Arianna shouted for the resting Avatar as she whizzed through the hallways.

She finally found his room and shook him till he groggily woke up.

"What?" He mumbled. "Iroh came!" She smiled brightly. He quickly jumped up and walked to his dresser. He noticed that Arianna was still and the room and turned around.

"Sorry. I'll be outside." She closed the door behind her and patiently waited for him to get dressed.

"Okay!" He opened the door, "Let's go!"

The two ran to the entrance of the Palace; everyone else was already there. The old man came out of the palanquin and bowed to its holders. He came up to Zuko, who was smiling like there's no tomorrow, and commented on something. "Zuko, you always knew that I never liked the palanquin. I can walk very well by myself!" He smiled and hugged his nephew.

"I know. I just thought after a journey like yours, you'd be tired." He explained. Iroh nodded and walked over to Katara, Toph, and Sokka.

"My, you have grown up so much!" He hugged the three of them. "I brought gifts!" Sokka smiled and started jumping up and down.

"Katara," Iroh looked at her, "Pakku wanted me to give you this. It's a moonstone powder." He handed her a shiny container whose contents glistened like ice. "It has special powers, but it's up to you to figure out what they are." She smiled and hugged him. He whispered in her ear, "Congrats on the engagement."

"Sokka," Iroh walked over to him, "It's your boomerang. One of the members of the White Lotus found it and made sure that I give it back to its rightful owner. Don't lose it again." His face becoming more serious, "I won't be around much longer." Sokka smiled and hugged his old friend.

"Toph." Iroh patted the young girl on her shoulder. "I think you might like this gift. It's something I found." He handed her a brown rock. "Wow. A rock."

She mocked.

"No. It's special. And I'm sure Aang would recognize it. Ask him." He smiled at the Avatar and walked to him.

"Aang. It's been a long time. I remember when Zuko was chasing you all over the world!" He chuckled, "You were just a young, naïve child. Now, you are a _man_. I give you this." It was a glass sculpture of the Spirit of Destiny.; something the monk's believed was very sacred. She was a beautiful spirit with red hair and pale white skin. Aang's eyes stared at the gift like it was too holy to touch but gradually took it into his hands. "I'm sure you know what this is and how carefully you must guard it." Aang nodded. Iroh smiled and walked to the last person.

"Arianna." She smiled and looked up at her Uncle. Just by looking in his eyes she knew that he was no regular old man. He was joyful, kind, and filled with wisdom that she'll never see in her life.

Iroh looked into her brown eyes and could see her entire life: her struggles, family heritage, love, and many more.

"You are destined for great things, my daughter." He smiled, "You have the blood of two warring nations; the blood of fire and water. My gift to you is this." He handed her a necklace. It was a simple chain with a locket shaped like the Fire Nation emblem. She opened the locket to find a drop of water floating inside it. The locket seemed to be bending it by itself. Everyone gathered around to see it.

"There's fire inside the drop!" Sokka shouted. Everyone stared at Iroh with baffled expressions.

"It's special." Iroh explained to Arianna. "It was your father's." A tear rolled off Arianna's cheek. "He made it as a symbol of harmony between the two nations and your parent's marriage. Guard it with your life."

She nodded and wiped the tear away.

"Now where can we drink this tea I brought?" Iroh chuckled and walked inside the palace.

**A/N: REVIEW PLEASE! **


	9. Chapter 9: Protected Hearts

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Avatar.

**A/N: A lot of people are reading this and many are putting it on Story Alerts or Favorite Story; but can you guys please review. It would completely make my day.**

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

The old General and probably the wisest man the world will ever see was now sipping his tea and enjoying the company of the younger members of his family. Yes, the entire Team Avatar is a big family and they were all outside next to the turtle-duck pond.

"So, that's what happened after he left." Iroh was shocked at how merciless the world could be. Arianna's ink black locks of hair whipped around from the breeze and her eyes welled with tears of the past. Her hand subconsciously touched the necklace that graced her neck.

"You're strong, my daughter," Iroh patted her on the shoulder, "But, it's okay to cry once in a while." Toph hugged her, something she rarely did. The rest of the Gaang came up next to her copied the same action; everyone except for Sokka.

"The entire world has suffered from this War." Katara whispered, "But we'll be fine because we have each other, right?" Being the 'always-optimistic' one, she smiled at Arianna with her sapphire eyes. They glowed with hope and love, something Arianna hadn't seen in a long time. Her brown eyes reflected the same warmth and hugged her friend once more. Aang's cough broke the silence. (He was still sick.)

"On a happier note, Katara and I have some news!" Zuko smiled. Arianna smirked, already knowing what it was.

"Zuko and I are engaged!" Katara screamed as she pulled out her hand to show the ring. Its red stone sparkled with the sun's rays. _Why am I not surprised that it's red?_Arianna thought to herself.

"WHAT?" Sokka screamed and fainted.

"Yeah, we're planning to have a small wedding with just family and friends. There's some other stuff that's going to get in the way." Katara's smile fell a little but regained its composure at the thought of being Zuko's wife. Iroh was glowing with happiness for his nephew and to be daughter-in-law. Aang, on the other hand, seemed more down than usual. Toph noticed this and quickly started worrying.

_He still loves Katara._Her brain racked itself. _How could I have been so STUPID?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Arianna. Her hand was on Toph's shoulder with sympathy. Toph, being the girl that doesn't show weakness, quickly pushed her hand off and walked away.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

A man, covered in dark, forest green rags, writhed in hurt. The slashes on his back stung every time his body moved an inch. His legs felt like jelly and his usually strong hands throbbed with pain. His scar, one that he had received long ago, was cut open again. His pure, brown eyes shined with fear and anger.

"You should've known better." Another man, obviously higher in rank than the him, kicked the shackles around his ankles. The metal cut into his skin and he let out a blood-curdling scream once again.

"I will never tell you." He coughed, "Evil never wins, Long Feng! AAH!" He screamed as a knife cut through his leg.

"You _will_tell me, or there will be dire consequences." His voice thundered. The man simply turned away and swallowed his pain. "Tell me, Sheng, do you love your wife?"

Sheng's eyes widened with shock. "What did you do to her?" He shouted as loud as he could.

"I take it that you do." A vicious grin plastered itself on Long Feng's face. "And what about your daughter? It's a shame that she'll have to die so young."

"Don't hurt her!" He cried, "Hwaimei and Ling are my entire life! I'll tell you. Just save them." The former spy's head hung in defeat.

"Go on." He grinned victoriously as the light from the green fire lit his face in the most evil ways.

"The General. He gave it to the Fire Nation girl with brown eyes. She has it." Tears gushed out of his eyes.

"That is all." Long Feng turned around and motioned for the other agents. They surrounded him. A smile grew on his face as he heard the most disgusting scream in the distance: the scream of death.

"Where do we put the bodies, sir?" A Dai Li agent came up behind Long Feng.

"Dispose of them." He said in disgust as he looked at the three bodies in front of him. "Somewhere where no one will find them. We can't risk anything. The Princess was adamant that nothing falls apart."

"Yes sir." The agent bowed at his master.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Katara!" The Fire Nation girl ran up to her waterbender friend who was now practicing her bending.

"You want to spar a little, Arianna?" She smirked.

"As much as I know how much you love getting your butt kicked by the BEST firebender in the world, I was thinking we could do something else." Katara's head tilted in confusion.

"Come, on. The royal dresser has arrived!" She pulled her friend by the wrist. "Whooahh!"

"I can't believe that I'm engaged to Zuko!" She screamed with delight. The dresser sighed as she tried to make her calm down so she could tailor the dress perfectly.

"I'm happy for you, Katara." Arianna smiled but inside, she still wished she could be up there one day. _Maybe with Sokka!_

_Awww, shut up. He hates me. He said so HIMSELF!_

_No, maybe he's just having a rough time with his rejection with that other girl._

"Let me ask Arianna. Arianna! Do you like this one?" Katara looked at her friend.

"No. Not really. Any other ones?"

_Whatever his problem is, I doubt he'll ever propose to me._ She continued with herself.

_Whatever you say, honey. I'll be ready to say "I TOLD YOU SO" on your wedding day!_

_Shut up!_Arianna screamed at her inner self. "I hate you." She whispered under her breath.

"What was that?" Katara asked suddenly.

"Nothing!" She smiled innocently. "Wow, that dress is beautiful, Katara." It was red. _Surprise, surprise…_ but it hugged onto her figure like no other dress has. The gold that outlined the glowing red added that _Fire-Lady_PIZZAZ! It reached her toes in the most magnificent way. Her blue eyes sparkled and surprisingly, made the dress look even more beautiful.

"This is the one." Katara smiled. "Thank you Mrs. Ming." She politely bowed.

"No problem, your highness. May your love for the Fire Lord keep strong like the flames of the Eternal Fire." She blessed the younger woman.

"Thank you." Katara turned around to Arianna. "Where is everyone?"

"Zuko went to some meeting and I think Sokka went as well." A flash of hurt passed through Arianna at the mention of the Water Tribe boy, but was left unnoticed by Katara. "Aang is resting, or at least he's supposed to be and I'm not sure where Toph went." The memory of her running away came back to Arianna.

"Oh my Agni! I have to find her!" She rushed to the door.

"Wait!" Katara screamed from inside the room. "Can you help me get this dress off?" Arianna laughed.

"Sure."

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Love is stupid." Toph hissed through her tears. "Only idiots would go there. I am _**not**___an idiot." She stood up with pride.

"I am the Greatest Earthbender!" Her fake pride couldn't fool herself. She fell to the ground; her tears fell to the ground and splashed everywhere, like the broken pieces of her heart.

"Yes, you are." Arianna walked up to her friend. "No one can change that." Toph wiped her tears away and repeated her mantra in her head. _Don't show weakness. No weakness. No weakness. No weakness._

"Toph, what happened?" Her consoling voice broke through Toph's heart and she fell apart. The 'great earthbender' was now crying so bad, you would start crying at the sight of her; tears of sympathy.

Toph's strong structure was now broken and she gasped out a few words, "Stupid Avatar…..loves…..stupid…..waterbender…..pretty…..I'm ugly…..always alone….."

"Toph," A tear rolled off her cheek. Her hand reached her chin and pulled her face out of the folds of her shirt. Toph quickly recoiled and hugged onto the older girl's chest. Her sobs were pulling at Arianna's heart so much. All she wanted was to kiss the girl over and over again and tell her that she's okay; and that's _exactly_what she did.

Her gentle hands pushed the unruly raven-black bangs off of Toph's face. "That stupid b#$h, he always loved her. Why would he lead me on?" Her face became red in anger. Arianna nodded slowly and whispered, "Let it out. I'm here for you." She patted her back as the younger girl hugged her chest.

In an hour, she fell into the clutches of sleep from exhaustion. Arianna kissed her forehead and tucked her in her bed. "I've never seen her this bad." She whispered to herself as she closed Toph's bedroom door.

"What happened to Toph?" Sokka asked and ran into Arianna who was guarding Toph's door from Sokka.

"Nothing. She's just sleeping." The exhaustion in her beautiful face betrayed her.

"What happened?" He adamantly hissed. "She's like my little sister, and I don't want you messing her up!" He pushed Arianna out of the way and stormed inside only to see a peaceful Toph snoring quite loudly. He looked closer and saw tear stains on her cheeks and glared at Arianna with worry.

"This is the _last_time I'm going to ask this. What happened?" He whispered and closed the bedroom door behind him. Arianna sighed. _He isn't going to give up, is he?_

"Sokka, now isn't the time." She pushed him to the side, "And you are in _no_position to be shouting at _me_!" Her anger boiled and let itself out.

"Look, that was all a mist-," _SLAP!_A stinging sensation stung his cheek; Arianna's usually warm brown eyes were now a deadly color. "You jerk! You have no idea what you did to me! Stupid Water Tribe idiot!" She screamed and walked away.

"I'm sorry." He whispered as he watched the girl of his dreams walk away.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

**A/N: Review please.**


	10. Chapter 10: Story of the Dragons

Disclaimer: I do not own avatar.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

A sick pale Avatar tumbled around in his bed. The annoying ray of sunlight from a nearby window was driving him crazy.

"Stupid window!" He muttered angrily as he grabbed a fistful of the curtains and swiped them over the sun. "That's better."

"Wow." A voice behind him smiled, "I've never seen you this grumpy." Aang looked behind his shoulder and calmed down to see his best friend standing there.

"Oh. Hey Sokka." His weak body slowly waved to him and plopped itself on the soft bed. "Why are you awake this early?"

"This isn't early." Sokka smiled and sat himself next to Aang. "It's after lunch."

"That's still pretty early for you." Aang smiled tiredly.

"Well, what about you? You never sleep this late!" Sokka defended.

Aang smiled, "Touche. What's up?" Sokka's smile dropped.

"It's about Arianna. She hates me!" His arms flailed above in failure.

"Well, girls always have a reason to hate someone." His finger rested on his chin in thought. "What did you tell her that could have upset her?" His gray eyes seemed to shine with worry for his friend. Despite the fact how tired Aang was right now, he was always there for his friends in times of need.

"Well. I kind of shot her down saying that I'm still getting over Suki." The muscles in his body twitched at the memory of Suki.

"I bet you said something worse than that, Sokka." Aang frowned in thought.

"Well. I kind of told her that she's bad luck and I don't trust her." Sokka smiled weakly while Aang slapped his forehead.

"Idiot! You _never_ tell a girl that!" Aang's hand patted his friend's back. "It's okay. I'll fix it if you tell me one thing." Sokka nodded.

"Do you love her?" Aang seemed determined to find this out. Aang patiently waited as Sokka dove into extreme thought. Memories of her beautiful hair whipping with the wind at the Garden rushed through his brain. The way the moon reflected off of her creamy soft skin reminded him how pretty the other sex could be. Thinking of her soft brown eyes made him miss the times when she didn't want to kill him. The memory of her body swiftly going through her firebending stances was imprinted in his mind. Her cute little nose and curvy body; he loved everything about her.

"I do." He replied confidently. "Are you sorry?" Aang asked. "So much, it hurts." The stinging sensation on his cheek came back again.

"Then we have a LOT of work to do." Aang smiled.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Zuko!" Katara ran to her fiancée and kissed him on the cheek. "The invites for the wedding were sent out." She smiled. Zuko didn't reply. All he did was weakly smile back and dove into deep concentration.

"What's wrong?" Her hand caressed his cheek.

"At the meeting yesterday, I found out that a dragon egg as been laid and that the dragons are coming back into this world. Masters Ran and Shao aren't the only ones." Katara jumped with glee.

"That's great Zuko! The dragons aren't gone!" Her smile was wiped away when her fiancée frowned.

"I just got a letter that the egg was stolen!"

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

Aang finished his talk with Sokka and sent him out of his room so he could freshen up. He gargled some water and put on his robes. He was still pretty sick and his body felt horrible. He never got sick when he was younger and it surprised everyone, especially him, when he got the fever. His appetite had worn out, but Katara was adamant that he still eat her sea prunes. Aang gagged and begged for some other 'edible' food. Thankfully, Arianna made some spiced noodles for herself, Zuko, and Toph but offered some to Aang.

"Thank you." He licked his lips as the bowl was placed in front of him. He hungrily finished the bowl in one bite and innocently held the bowl up and asked for some more.

"I'll get it." Arianna smiled and filled his bowl with more of the delicious noodles.

Aang smiled as the once-again filled bowl was in front of him. "You're a pretty good cook, Arianna." He mumbled through his full mouth. She smiled and brought a platter of some kind of pastry.

"What's that?" Toph pointed at the platter. All that crying really made her hungry.

"Wait! I know this!" Zuko smiled at the memories this dessert brought him, "It's my mother's famous red velvet cake!" He grabbed one and took a bite. The cutest smile spread through his mouth and made all of his worries fly away. "It tastes different, though." Zuko smacked his lips together as everyone else grabbed one.

"You're quite the cook, Arianna." Iroh smiled at his new niece, "Do you have any tea-flavored?" Everyone laughed. "I'll try to learn that, Uncle." She smiled.

"It's snow white butter cream! Mom used to make that all the time!" Katara screamed with delight. Sokka took another off the plate and nodded in agreement.

"My mom loved it and she taught me how to make it. My dad taught me the cake recipe. It's a recipe that was passed down throughout the family." Arianna smiled as everyone savored the dessert. "Glad you like it." She wiped her dirty cooking hands on a cloth.

"LOVE IT, you mean." Aang smiled. "Yeah, this is pretty good, Sparkles." Toph licked her fingers for the butter cream icing. Sokka reached out for another one, but Arianna glared at him to back off. He quietly squirmed into his chair. Soon, the platter was finished and everyone's stomachs were bulging out.

"You didn't eat any, Arianna." Sokka asked cautiously. Arianna glared again but softened up. "I didn't want some. It was for you guys." She stared at the necklace on her neck and smiled, "I'm going to practice bending outside." She stood up and walked out of the dining room. Sokka quickly followed her. "We can practice together." He desperately tried to get them alone so he could apologize, but she quickly frowned and hissed, "Alone." His shoulders fell and he walked back to the table.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

The moon crept into his room as he meditated in a corner. His face relaxed at the feeling of the wind on his skin. He still felt pretty weak, but he had convinced himself he couldn't stop meditating just because of some petty fever. He tried to stay still, but there was a distraction in his mind. The thought of Zuko getting Katara unnerved him a bit. His heart broke a little but the thought of Toph brightened him up.

"I'll tell her how I feel soon." He smiled to himself at the new confidence. "After all, I'm the Avatar. I shouldn't be scared of this." He went back into thought. _This is Toph. Being the Avatar doesn't help at ALL…_ "Yup, scared again." Fear grew into his face. In hopes of calming down, he picked up the glass woman next to him. It was a gift from Iroh: the Spirit of Destiny. His arrows glowed and he could feel his soul being pulled out of his physical body. "Spirit World." He whispered to himself as he felt water at his feet. He looked up and saw the Spirit of Destiny herself.

"Avatar Aang. I've been waiting for you." Her red locks framed a beautiful pale face with bright purple eyes. The Avatar, in pure awe of her beauty and power, quickly bowed showing his respect for the Spirit.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

It was night already; everyone went into their respective rooms to be granted the pleasure of sleeping. Toph was the only one who wasn't getting that needed pleasure. Her thoughts were swarming with one person: _Aang_. Her poor heart couldn't take it anymore. All these love triangles were driving her crazy! In rage, she slammed her fist onto the wall. The shelves came crashing down and all the items on it. One item, in particular, felt right on her foot. She screamed in pain and grabbed onto her foot.

"Stupid rock!" She mumbled in anger. The rock Iroh gave her was pretty heavy for its size. "Just a useless rock." She picked it up and was about to throw it out the window when she felt a weird sensation. It felt like a rush of heat swarmed her petite body. Her back arched from the intense temperature. Her mouth tried to scream, but couldn't speak. Her throat felt twisted. Her mouth felt dry and she could feel her body ripping apart. Her cloudy eyes blinked in confusion. She fell unconscious.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"What is it?" His eyes widened in fear of something bad. The Spirit's face darkened in sorrow and stared at Aang with an expression similar to the Avatar's.

"Evil is coming." She whispered. Her usually sweet, melodious voice had nothing sweet about it now. "Another War could be on you doorstep."

Aang kneeled down in pure anger. _Why is it always me! _He screamed in his brain. He felt a soft hand on his back giving him comfort.

"Do you know the story of the dragons, Avatar?" She asked him softly.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

It felt like she had been asleep for hours when she woke up. A blinding light burned her eyes. In defense, her hand went up to block the sun. She rubbed her eyes and stretched. Her toes squirmed at the feeling of grass under her. It was surprisingly cold for a place with this much sun. She opened her eyes fully and took in her surroundings.

"What the hell! I can see!" She screamed and stared at the mountain range in front of her.

"Hello, Miss. Toph." A gentle voice behind her called. Her dark hair whipped around and she took an earthbending stance. "Where am I?" She threatened from her stance. The man, in a meditating pose, seemed unaffected by her death glare and calmly replied.

"You're in the Spirit World, young one." The man's beard seemed to be flying with the wind. His robes, weird looking ones, were whipping with air and it seemed like he was the only one who was getting the cold winds.

"Yeah right!" She tried to bend a boulder up but failed. "Why can't I bend?" She screamed in fright. Her bending was the only defense she had.

"Calm down." He walked up to her, "No one can bend in the Spirit World, not unless your dead." He chuckled and patted the dirt off his shoulder.

"Why am I here? I thought only the Avatar could come here. Why can I see?" The questions popped out of her curious mouth and the man shushed her.

"You'll need to let me speak if you want to know answers." The man smiled sweetly, "My name is Gyatso. Since your bending is gone, the Spirits have granted you sight in the World. You're here because of that special rock you have. It's a spiritual rock that helped the highest monks gain advice from the Spirits. General Iroh was very wise to give you this." Toph was still confused.

"I cannot explain everything. We don't have much time. Do you know the story of the dragons?" He quickly asked.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Dragons roamed throughout the Fire Nation before Sozin ruled." The Spirit's angelic voice explained, "By the time of Azulon's reign, there were only a few dragons left. Fire benders killed them for honor. My poor creatures were dwindled down to only ten and all of them found shelter in a few islands near the shore of the Fire Nation."

"Many generals during Azulon's reign killed the small amount of dragons till only four were left. These last four dragons are now called the Prestigious Four." Gyatso explained to the confused girl in front of him. "The four dragons were named Ran, Shao, Ling, and Hann. Ling had given birth to a beautiful egg. The egg was very important for it held the sacred Golden Dragon."

"Every hundred years, a Golden Dragon is born to the dragons. It has an immense power, something that will never be known to any firebender." Aang listened carefully at how important this baby dragon was. "The Prestigious Four believed that this dragon could save their race from annihilation, but the egg hadn't even hatched yet. A merciless general, General Zhan, killed the mother of the egg, Ling. There were only three dragons left. Those three combined powers and created a sacred teardrop of fire to bless the egg in hopes of saving the fate of the baby dragon. The dragons were aware of how important the egg was. They could feel the raw power surging through the egg."

"The hopes for the dragon were powerful till General Zhan killed the egg." Toph's eyes widened with shock. No one could ever be that evil. "He became known as the Golden Dragon. Hann, Ran, and Shao were still quite young so they ran to protection with the Sun Warriors."

"Years before you visited the Sun Warrior civilization, Hann had already died. Ran and Shao were the only ones alive. A new egg has been born and it is missing. I believe that this is the Golden Dragon. You must save the egg from the clutches of evil." The Spirit demanded the poor Avatar in front of her. "Princess Arianna is in control of the sacred teardrop of fire. Her father had the power to create the drop by himself."

"Guard it with your life." Gyatso cried, "If evil controls the drop and the egg, the world will come to an end. This hard-earned peace will be wiped away with ease. The first person the dragon sees once it has hatched will be the master of it. If the drop is drunk, all the power of the Golden Dragon will inhabit the drinker. If the soul is pure, the drop will be used to defend everything good. If the soul is evil, it can be used to destroy the world and cover every corner with fire. You must find the egg and save it." Gyatso grabbed onto her shoulders.

"Why did you have to tell me? Why not Aang?" She asked confused.

"It is your destiny." The Spirit answered Aang. "Save the egg and guard the drop."

"It is your destiny to help your friends defeat this evil." Gyatso smiled at Toph. "You can do it." Toph sighed and tried to smile. "Tell Aang I'm proud of him." And he vanished.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

Arianna stared at the necklace with deep thought. The moon shone on the water droplet and reflected onto her eyes. The fire inside burned strong.

"I miss you Dad." She whispered softly. She quickly removed the necklace and placed it gently on the nightstand near her bed. A spell of slumber took over her body as her chest rose from the deep relaxation. Yue smiled from above. She knew that the girl was in for a lot, so she blessed her with a quiet sleep. The Spirit of Destiny looked over from the other side of the night sky. Her face, enlightened with her destiny, twitched in fear yet confidence. She knew that Arianna would fulfill her destiny and bring bravery to her soul.

"Sleep well, Arianna." Both Yue and Destiny whispered.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

Review please! :)


	11. Chapter 11: Confessions

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. :D

**A/N: Ah, it's good to write a new chapter for this story. Please review.**

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

The Water Tribe ships lined through the icy waters as the Southern Water Tribe people started piling in. Chief Hakoda had received the letter from his daughter inviting them to her marriage. Last night, the Chief held a _huge _party in honor of his daughter and the Fire Lord. The party had it all; waterbending performances, the best food, music, dancing, and even fireworks. The men were still whining from their hangovers and some women who partied too hard threw up from the rolling of the waves.

"Bato!" The Chief called as he helped an elderly woman get on the ship. "Set sail. Everyone's in."

The man nodded and called to the shipmates. The fleet of ships slowly creaked its way from the docks and started moving in sync with the calming waves.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Dad!" The earthbender called his esteemed father.

"Yes, Haru? Shouldn't you be practicing?" Tyro speculated at his son. Haru smiled weakly and showed his father the messenger hawk from the Fire Lord.

"Katara's getting married!" He smiled. "And we're invited."

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Teo, my son!" The Mechanist shouted from his latest invention. "A letter has arrived! Can you please read it for me?"

"You've lost your eyebrows, not your eyes." Teo smirked and rolled over to the hawk. "A marriage!" He whispered happily.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Pipsqueak! Longshot! Smellerbee!" The much older Duke called to his friends who were now playing cards. His hands squeezed the helmet on his head to prevent it from falling.

"We have to go to the Fire Nation." He smiled gleefully. "KATARA AND ZUKO ARE GETTING MARRIED!"

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

Arianna was sitting in the grass near the pond feeding the turtle ducks some bread. The tree behind her gifted her some shade, but it wasn't enough. The hot sun still burned on her back, but since she was a gifted firebender, the heat didn't bother her.

"Hey." Aang walked up behind the girl.

She didn't even look back. Her eyes were fixed on the ducks. Every movement, either a blink of its eye or a kick of a foot wasn't left unnoticed by her brown eyes.

"What are you doing?" He asked offhandedly.

"I'm peeing. Spirits, what do you think I'm doing?" Arianna scowled. She was giving both Sokka and Aang a cold shoulder for what they did to her and Toph.

"Sorry." Aang winced. He regained his composure soon after started petting some of the ducks. One baby duck, in particular, especially like the Avatar. The duck stretched its green-brownish neck and let his pale fingers scratch it. It quacked in response.

"What do you want?" Arianna glared at the boy next to her.

"I want to talk to you." He calmy stared at her. Her brown eyes softened and she nodded while looking at the ripples in the water.

"There's this girl I like, but she's so mad at me, and I'm not sure why." He started, "I have an idea why, but I want to make sure." Arianna gestured for him to go on. She already knew who he was talking about.

"I think it's because she thinks I still love Katara." Arianna's eyes widened slightly. "But I don't. I was just hurt a little, but now I know what my heart wants." He seemed confident.

"Why are you telling me this?" Arianna kept her eye on the water.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Snoozles!" Toph called out to the older warrior.

"Whatsup, Toph?" He smiled.

"I need to tell someone! This is driving me crazy!" She screamed to the ceiling.

"What's wrong, Toph?" He asked carefully and led her to the patio outside.

"You know that stupid rock Teacrazie gave me?" Her eyes furrowed from confusion.

"Iroh? Yeah. I remember." Sokka nodded.

"Well, yesterday night, that Agni-forsaken rock fell right on my foot-,"

"So?" Sokka raised his eyebrow.

"LET ME TALK, SOKKA!" She screamed as the anger and confusion blasted out of her. He winced from the sudden outburst and allowed her to speak. She explained everything that happened last night: The Spirit World, her sight, and Gyatso's talk.

"And that's what happened." She sighed as a small relief flew through her. At first, the boy didn't answer. He seemed too shocked. "Sokka?" She poked at the body.

"We gotta tell Aang and Katara!" He ran out only to run smack into an earth wall. He fell to the floor with a painful thud.

"Sorry, but we can't tell them." Toph whispered in case someone heard them. "It could ruin their wedding. All we need to do is make sure that Arianna's necklace stays safe."

"What about the egg? They can't keep the Golden Dragon! Who knows what they would do with that?" He screamed.

"Good point." Toph's heart fell to her stomach. "Then we'll find a way to get the egg back. We can tell Aang." She spoke his name with such disgust, but Sokka ignored it.

"The three of us can get the egg and forget this stupid thing even happened." Sokka smiled. "We'll fix it up, Avatar-style."

"Whatever, Snoozles." Toph pushed him out of the way and walked out.

*O*O*O*O*O*O*

Her evil black hair crawled down her body crazily. The asylum didn't give its patients haircuts. Her distressed amber eyes stared at the object in front of her with pure desire.

"This egg." Her fingers rubbed its hard, yet delicate surface. "When will it hatch?" She looked at the man next to her.

"A certain date cannot be deciphered, Princess. But it will hatch very soon. About two week's time." The man bowed to the woman.

"Make sure that your idiotic agents get the necklace before it hatches." She looked at the man with disgust. "My father is now worthless without his firebending. I, on the other hand, will _**rule**_ the world with that drop. If you fail to get me it, Long Feng, you won't even have the time to regret it." She stared evilly at the egg.

He gulped and nodded fiercely. "It will be in your hands very soon, Princess." He bowed once again.

"Now get away from me." She glared at the man. The darkness of the room engulfed her as she walked away with baby dragon.

"Stupid Zuzu. You always _did _do the stupidest things at the stupidest times." She referred to his upcoming marriage with the waterbending slut. She stabbed her fingers into the air in the thought of killing her brother and his fiancée. Her hair swished around fanatically from the movement. After another maniacal laugh, her figure disappeared into the black leaving the glowing, innocent egg by itself.


	12. Chapter 12: Vacation at Angel Island

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Avatar.

**A/N: I'm really missing those reviews… Sorry for the really slow update, I've been pretty busy for weeks now. Hope you like, and enjoy. And this is an EXTRA long chapter and an important one as well.**

* * *

><p>They were still talking by the turtle duck pond.<p>

"So he took me out with his friends, right." Arianna was sharing some of her old stories back when she was a waiter. "And I had dressed up and everything, but my mini skirt was too big for me."

"What happened then?" Aang asked from the edge of his seat. He always enjoyed hearing stories, whether horror or comedy, he didn't care.

"Well," She hesitated. "The moment I walked in, my skirt fell down to my ankles." A hot blush of embarrassment covered her cheeks from the memory.

"Spirits!" Aang laughed as he slapped his thigh. "What did you do?" His goofy grin became contagious and Arianna started laughing a little as well.

"I ran out of there as fast as I could. They still never let me live it down." She replied as she threw a piece of bread at the mother duck.

"Wow!" Aang wiped a stray tear off his eye as he finished his share of laughing. "Must have been a sight to see."

"Hey!" Arianna joked as she slapped him on the back. "But all the guys were completely shocked. I swear, their jaws hit the ground the moment it fell. I was so embarrassed!"

The sound of crunching leaves resonated behind the two laughing friends. They didn't notice the presence of the two people behind them; too busy sharing their embarrassing early teenage stories.

"Aang, can we talk with you for a sec." Sokka glared at the boy jealously, obviously concerned if his best friend was stealing his girl behind his back. Aang looked back at the older teenager and nodded.

"Sorry, Arianna. Maybe we can continue later?" Aang grinned at the Fire Nation girl, who was still sitting on the ground, trying to ignore Sokka.

"Sure Aang." She stood up and hugged him lightly. The feeling of Sokka and Toph's prickly gaze stung at the back of her neck as she walked inside the palace.

"What's up guys?" The monk acknowledged the two friends in front of him. He looked at Sokka as he spoke, but couldn't help but steal a few stares at the beautiful girl beside him.

"The stolen Dragon Egg." Sokka answered, noticing that Toph wasn't going to speak.

"Oh yeah. Zuko told me about it." He nodded. "What about it?"

"Well," Toph started bluntly, "Unless you don't want any more Sugar Queen in your life, we better find it."

"Wait, what?" Sokka frowned in confusion, "What does Katara have to do with anything?"

"Forget about it, Sokka." Aang waved off, confident that he'll confess his feelings to Toph later. "Is this about Arianna's necklace? The Spirit of Destiny told me about it a while ago. It has to do with a special dragon called the Golden Dragon."

"Wait!" Sokka interrupted as his blue eyes sparkled with confusion, "You know about the Prestigious Four and all that stuff?"

"Yeah, the Spirit of Destiny told me. How'd you guys find out?" He repeated obviously baffled.

"Toph did." Sokka answered. "Some guy called Gyatso talked to her. Isn't that your airbending master?" He remembered that statue Aang showed him back when they first visited Southern Air Temple.

"You met Gyatso? But how? Only the Avatar can travel between the worlds!" He pointed a finger at Toph, "What did he say? Did he talk about me? How is he? It's been so long!" He clasped his fingers in wonder and happiness at the memory of his father figure.

"Can you shut up?" Toph hissed more rude than usual. Aang quickly stopped his ranting and nodded solemnly. "He said he missed you. And that damned rock that Iroh gave me somehow let me travel to the Spirit World. I have no idea why they would tell me when they already told you."

"The rock?" Aang questioned and suddenly pointed his finger to the sky in his 'light-bulb' moment. "It's not a rock. It's a special marble, granite or something. The monks used it-,"

"I'm aware." Toph interrupted.

"Anyway, we can't destroy Katara's wedding by making them all worried about this. Knowing Katara and Zuko, they're probably going to go berserk at the news." Sokka pondered at the thought, horrified.

"So what now?"

"We're thinking of finding the egg ourselves." Toph answered, keeping her distance from the monk. "So Sparky can have a normal wedding. Knowing our gaang, that's going to be tough."

"Where do we start looking?" Aang ignored her comment.

"Well, what else does Zuko know? Other than the stolen dragon egg?" Sokka fished for any main points.

"He mentioned something about a growing rebel group called the _**Black Agni**_. We could start looking there!" The airbender proposed.

"Where do you think they are?" Toph asked.

"Last I heard, they have a base somewhere off the coast of the Fire Nation; one of the islands."

"Then… to the coast!" Sokka comically pointed his index finger in the air.

***O*O*O*O*O*O***

Memories raced through her head as she flopped into the nook beside her window. The sunshine flooded into the room casting its light all over its contents. Talking with Aang reminded her so much of her deceased family. He was compassionate, like her mother, and sweet as well as innocent, like her little brother. But mostly, he reminded her of her father. Despite being Fire Nation, her father was perfect and the most honorable man she knew.

Her fingers traced the emblem on her pale neck. True, she was against the Fire Nation's actions, but she still felt that her Nation is innocent. It wasn't her people who were evil. It was their leaders. The greed for power destroyed the Royal Family for centuries and their wrath had put the balance of the world in jeopardy.

Going back to the Avatar, Arianna could feel the power and justice emanating off him. He would always be her role model (similar to how she felt to her father) but would always be in her heart like her younger brother. Toph's lucky to have Aang. Truly, the Spirits have blessed the blind earthbender.

_Too bad the Spirits didn't bless me. _She thought to herself. She quickly erased all doubts from her mind, scolding herself for even thinking that. _Stop it! Of course they blessed you! They have given you a new family; a wonderful one that cares about you as much as your old one._

Pictures of her mother flashed in her eyes, only to be replaced by a memory of Katara sipping tea and talking happily as the sun rose behind her tan frame. Her new father would be Zuko, protective to her and as honorable as her father despite the struggles both of them went through. Aang would be her younger brother while Toph's her younger sister. Sokka… she had no idea what he would be, truthfully.

_Hopefully, he'll stop doubting his heart and see what he's missing. _A sense of optimism clicked in her mind, washing all her pessimistic ways out the door.

Her red lips curled in a renewing smile, one that represented a new, calmed, and balanced soul. She knew her place in the world now. She wasn't the old, orphaned, and devoid of hope Arianna. She was the new, strong, firebender who will love and fight for her new family with her life, if it comes to that.

She walked out of her humble room with more confidence in each stride. Even the servants around noticed the transformation.

"I see you have gained some insight." Her Uncle came walking around the corner, smiling at his niece.

"Yes, Uncle." Arianna hugged the old man tightly. "I feel wonderful!" She let go and twirled around in the middle of the hallway.

"I'm glad." He chuckled heartily. "A young woman as happy and beautiful as you should find someone special soon. No doubt."

"Whatever you say, Uncle." Arianna smirked inwards, thinking of Sokka. "Do you know where Aang, Toph and Sokka went? Last I saw them, they were talking about something serious."

Iroh placed his finger on his chin in thought. "I saw them leaving on the Avatar's bison not long ago."

"Oh." The smile on her face dropped. She had really wanted to apologize to the Water Tribe boy for her behavior the past few days. "That's fine. So, I hear you're a master at Pai Sho."

A smirk appeared on the man's face, "So they say. You up for a game?" He asked slyly as he flipped a tile from his sleeve.

"Bring it on, old man!"

***O*O*O*O*O*O***

The to-be Fire Lady was now resting on a cushioned chair with her husband-to-be cowering over her.

"It's wonderful." Zuko whispered as he rubbed her slightly swollen stomach. "How a woman can bring life."

Katara smiled as she rubbed her own stomach. Of course, the baby was too small to be showing any signs of movement, but it still felt quite weird and exciting having a life in her own belly.

"Uncle always worshiped woman for that." Zuko smiled at the memories.

"He should." Katara smirked, bringing her 'girl-power' side back.

"Yes." Zuko smiled as he kissed her tan belly. "Sleep. It's time for another meeting."

"I'm not weak!" She whined.

"No, but you're carrying our child." Zuko replied calmly, knowing how feisty his fiancée could get. "Be reasonable, Kat."

"Hmph." She huffed and turned around.

"Bye sweetie." He kissed her shoulder and closed the door behind him.

Katara lied on her bed, absentmindedly rubbing her own child. She didn't even know the baby yet, but she still loved it to death. She loved her child with her whole heart and wouldn't let anything happen to him or her. She kissed her palm and placed it on her stomach.

"I love you." She moved her fingers around, searching for anything, a heartbeat or even a kick, but in vain. She slowly fell asleep, against what she argued with her fiancée.

***O*O*O*O*O*O***

The wind from high above always aggravated her nausea.

"You okay, Toph?" Aang grew worried from Appa's head as he noticed her cheeks growing a little green.

"I'm fine." She answered stubbornly, not accepting the fact that the _strongest _earthbender in the world was being defeated by a little nausea.

"We can stop if you want." Sokka patted her back, accidently setting her stomach on fire. In one swift motion, her neck turned and all the contents in her belly was sent flying on Appa's fur.

"Aw, man." Sokka pointed at it with disgust. "Poor Appa." He sympathized for the huge furry beast.

"We're stopping soon. Hang on, Toph!" Aang screamed over the roaring wind.

"Kay." She answered weakly. In a few minutes, Appa landed. Ironically, the island was named Angel Island despite how desolate the island was. It was covered with black volcanic rock and a humongous, active volcano acted as a halo, right in the middle. Volcanic soil provided much fertility, so forests dotted the island.

After washing the crusty vomit off her face, Toph noticed how special the island was. "Guys, I can feel something." She whispered as she stomped her foot deeper in the rock.

"What is it?" The two boys towered over her.

"There's a huge cavern under the volcano, at the base. I can feel at least a hundred people there." She answered. "There are small tunnels to get there. I can feel an opening right there." She pointed off into the distance.

"Lead us there." Sokka commanded. "We can infiltrate the tunnels and find some disguises. Maybe we can get more info and check out if they have the Egg." The other two nodded in agreement. After five minutes of walking through the thickly wooded jungle of plants, Toph finally stopped in her tracks. Her feet spread into a memorized stance while her arms pushed through the air. A decent-sized hole opened up.

"Follow me." She ordered as she jumped into the tunnel.

"But it's dark!" Sokka whined.

"Oh, the horror!" Toph answered dryly. "You'll live. Just follow my voice."

The non bender slowly made his way into the hole, wary of his surroundings and his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"You can open your eyes now." Toph smirked as the others walked up behind her.

"Wow." Aang gasped as he saw the scene in front of him. He was expecting tight, dirty earth tunnels, but found something completely different. The walls were carved intricately and each tunnel made way into another. It was truly a maze, easy to get lost in if you didn't have a blind earthbender to guide you.

"It kinda looks Dai Li to me." Sokka pondered as he studied the carvings. "The walls are just like the ones back in Ba-," He was slammed into the wall by Toph. So was Aang.

"Guards." She hissed into their ears and let go of their mouths. The two nodded and stayed quiet. Two guards, one female holding a torch and another male, walked from a doorway, coming towards the three invaders.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" She whispered into Aang's ear. With the help of her feet, she could feel him nod.

"Now!" He commanded as the two advanced benders swiftly and quietly knocked the guards out of consciousness with a punch to the head.

"Dai Li." Sokka acknowledged. "There are only two guard uniforms."

"I'll take one. I can help find the center of the place and spy on them." Toph replied as she ripped the robe of one of them and placed it over her shoulders. "This'll come in handy." She smiled as she wore the earth gloves.

"I'll take the other one." Aang answered, to Toph's dismay. _Damn, he's coming. _She thought to herself.

"Kay. I'll find another guard and go the other way." Sokka picked up the bodies and hid it. "Meet back here in an hour. If something goes wrong, improvise." He ordered and ran away.

"Let's go." Aang whispered huskily as he flew through the corridor, his robe falling behind him and the hat covering his arrows.

"You're not the boss of me." Toph scowled as she walked a little faster than him, bumping him in the shoulder on the way.

"What's wrong with you?" Aang frowned at her. "You've been giving me the hardest time ever!"

"So you don't know?" Toph frowned back. "Why don't you ask your _Katara_? Oh wait! She's busy getting it on with Zuko, but you don't mind!"

"That's not true." Aang huffed. "I don't like Katara that way anymore."

"Uh huh." She replied sarcastically. "Sure. Whatever. You can't lie to me!" She couldn't feel him lying, truthfully, but her anger made her biased.

"Why can't you just admit that you like me?" He answered angrily, trying to keep quiet in the echoing hallways.

"Me like _you_? HA! In your dreams!" Her pride burst through her mouth. "Why'd I have to get stuck with you? Out of _all_ people!"

Aang pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm his anger. The monks always told him that anger will do nothing good. In this kind of situation, a calm and level-headed mind is needed. "Let's just find out if the Egg's here and you can leave me, okay?"

"Perfect." She haughtily answered and walked through the corner, accidentally hitting Aang in his weakest spot below…

"Toph!" He winced as he held onto his private.

"An accident." She answered, smirking. "Come on, Airhead, we got to go." He muttered a few incoherent words under his breath and followed the crazy earthbender in front of him.

"What's that?" She asked about his mumbling.

"Nothing."

They kept walking through tunnels, but found no trace of Sokka or any other guards for that matter, until now.

"Guards on the right." Toph whispered as she felt their footsteps.

"How many?"

"A lot. They might see that we're not real guards!" She worried.

"It's okay. I have an idea." He whispered behind her neck.

"What?" She shivered from his cool breath.

"I'm sorry." He answered and smashed her into the wall before she could answer. Since he was at least a head and a half taller than her, he had to bend down to reach her face. She groaned from the feel of his hot lips on hers, but he shushed her by pushing deeper in. His right hand scoured her back, each finger sending shocks through her body. His other hand caressed her breast in a way only a lover could.

"You there." A gruff voice came behind the kissing couple. "Come with us. The Princess is calling everyone."

"Yes, sir." Aang released his grip on Toph and followed behind the group of guards, pulling the younger girl with him.

"Speak of this and I will _kill_ you." She hissed, her voice much lower and almost deadly.

"I thought you liked it." Aang smirked under the dark green robes, remembering the beautiful sensation.

"You're a _great_ kisser. I'll give you that." She mumbled and ignored the blush on her cheeks and the rapid heartbeat of his.


End file.
